A Very Whitechapel Christmas
by Takarifan101
Summary: This is Ethan's first Christmas with Sarah, and he's determined to make it the best one yet. Unfortunately things take a turn for the worse when a strange supernatural creature arrives in Whitechapel with one goal in mind-to ensure the city experiences it's worst holiday yet. The countdown to save the holidays has begun. Etharah -Complete-
1. Bringer of the Coal

A/N: Here's a story that's been nagging at my brain after listening to Carol of the Bells (great song by the way), and I finally decided to go ahead and write it. Hopefully you guys will enjoy this little tale I've cooked up, enjoy! I'm just saying that I love feedback, and that it's more than welcome. And just in case your wondering this story will actually wrap up on Christmas Eve.

* * *

A Very Whitechapel Christmas

Chapter 1: Bringer of the Coal

2nd December 2012

The hunched figure trudged through the falling snow at a steady and brisk pace; this was nothing new to him. He was wearing a light gray jacket, and black scarf wrapped tightly around his neck and head. The figure refused to look up, he wanted his first glimpse of the city to have an impact. After all it would never be the same once he left. He came to the edge of the cliff and finally looked up-below him Whitechapel was glowing in the night.

He stood up straight for a better view and as he did two large black wings emerged from his back. The city was going to learn the meaning of disappointment this year, what it meant to be forgotten. The wings arched back and in one fluid motion the figure took off into the sky. Whitechapel was going to experience it's worst Christmas ever.

* * *

Ethan unpacked the decorations from the box one by one, if there was one thing he loved about the holidays it was the decorations. Everything seemed so much more friendly and alive, and as an added plus this year was it was his first one with Sarah around. If Ethan had his way it was also going to be one of the best ones yet. Secretly he was hoping to catch her under a mistletoe at one point or another, and with a full twenty-three days ahead of them before Christmas what could go wrong?

Fate answered his question as he picked up another ornament.

_Black feathers were falling from the sky, they were filled with pain, misery and above all else a sadness that couldn't be measured. Ethan watched as Christmas trees were set ablaze, presents smashed, and anguish howls of children as they woke to chaos and destruction. Christmas Eve, and standing upon the Whitechapel Church was a shadowy figures with large black wings. Whoever it was stood tall and worst of all laughed at the scene before it._

When the vision was over Ethan looked around, no one but Jane seemed to notice his sudden change in expression.

"What's the matter?" whispered Jane.

"I'm not sure," answered Ethan as he looked at his reflection in the ornament. "I think something is going to try and ruin Christmas. I'll be right back."

"Ethan we aren't done yet!" said Samantha as she looked at him. "Where do you have to go off to so fast?"

"No where," said Ethan trying to think of an excuse. "I just need to call some friends about some homework."

"You're going to call Benny asking about homework?" asked Ross with a look of disbelief on his face. "I never thought I see the day when you needed to ask Benny for homework."

"I bet he's gonna call Sarah," said Jane with a smile on her face.

"I am not," said Ethan blushing as he ran up the stairs. Once safely in his room he opened his cell phone and texted each of his friends.

**Had a vision. Something is coming, more info tomorrow.**

* * *

3rd December 2012

Ethan waited for all his friends to sit down at the table before going into detail about his vision. Once he was done each person held a different look on their face. Sarah and Benny both had looks of determination; Erica held a look of indifference, and Rory confusion.

"Who cares," said Erica as she stood up. "I thought this was important, so one holiday is ruined, they'll have a dozen more in this lifetime."

"Really?" asked Sarah as she looked at her. "That's your answer?"

She shrugged her shoulders and walked away. It was Benny who spoke next.

"I thought Erica was a big fan of Christmas. I remember before she was bitten how she used to wear the hats and sweaters. I mean I love the holidays, but she always took it to the next level."

"She did," said Sarah. "I don't know why, I think it has to do with her being vampire. Guess she just realized it isn't as glamorous as she thought."

"I'll say," said Rory. "My mom wanted to take holiday photos and I had to think of every excuse in the book not to. You have no idea how hard it is to avoid family when they're crazy about the holidays."

"So what exactly do we have to be on the lookout for?" asked Benny.

"A person with dark black wings," said Ethan as he bit his lip. "I didn't really get a good view of them; all I know is that whatever it's planning is going to happen on Christmas Eve."

"So then we have until then to stop it!" said Sarah with confidence.

"If this thing thinks he's going to stop Santa from coming to my house then it's got another thing coming!" said Rory.

"You still believe in Santa?"

"No," said Rory without much confidence.

"Dude," said Benny. "I don't even believe in Santa and I believe in everything."

"I'm going to prove to you all that he does exist, just you wait!" With that he was gone.

"So we keep our eyes open for anything out of the ordinary," said Ethan. "If we notice anything unusual at all we'll tell each other right away."

"Like that?"

Ethan turned around and watched as a new kid walked through the cafeteria. His hair was black, and he had dark circles under his eyes. A black scarf was wrapped tightly around his neck, but most unusual was the light grey jacket he wore indoors.

"How is he not dying of heat stroke?" asked Benny.

"Who is that?" asked Ethan

"New kid," offered Sarah. "I saw him in the principal's office this morning."

Ethan locked eyes with the boy, and for a moment time seemed to stop. The boy gave Ethan a crazed smile. No one else seemed to notice it and before Ethan could mention anything the kid was gone. On the table in front of them lay a single black feather, its message was loud and clear.

"He's challenging us," whispered Ethan as he picked it up. "He wants us to try and stop him."

The group looked at one another; no one had ever declared open war on them like this before. They shivered as a chill suddenly ran through the cafeteria. Outside the boy took to the air, he was laughing.


	2. Mind Games

A/N: Glad to see you guys enjoyed the first chapter, I was sorta worried this story would fall flat on its face. So here's the lay down for updates, expect them every three to four days leading up to Christmas Eve. So here's chapter 2! Again feed back is welcome and encouraged! Expect some slight Bennica in the future.

* * *

A Very Whitechapel Christmas

Chapter 2: Mind Games

5th December 2012

It was nice out, and despite the weather from the previous day the sun had broken through bathing the world in a bight reflective light. Ethan felt unnaturally warm besides his family. Every year without fail they would go out together in search of the perfect Christmas tree, and the Morgan to find the winning one was often rewarded with a spectacular Christmas present.

"This," thought Ethan as he examined a potential candidate. "This is what it means to celebrate Christmas."

Last year the family tree had been found by Jane, and not be outdone by his sister again, Ethan searched with a diligent eye. He was looking at a particularly lopsided one when something caught his eye. For a moment he mistook the shape as a cloud passed over the sun, but a second glance confirmed his worst fears. Further down the row, the mysterious boy with the black scarf was watching him.

Quietly trying to avoid his family's attention Ethan ducked behind a row and approached the figure. Ever since the encounter in the cafeteria Ethan had carried the feather in his pocket, right now it felt heavy. Ethan reached out to grab the boy when he realized it was just another teenager with his family.

"Sorry," mumbled Ethan as he backed away. He felt a presence behind him and didn't dare move.

"_By the tolling of the twelfth bell your Christmas will be over."_

Ethan turned; whoever was standing behind him was gone. He heard his mom calling, after one final look around; he headed in the direction of her voice. Upon returning to his family he was rewarded with his sister's triumphant smile.

"I found a perfect tree," said Jane as she motioned to the tree next to her.

"All we need is an unanimous agreement from all Morgan's," said Ross as he and his wife walked around it. "I have to say she did find a real contender."

Ethan looked the tree up and down. After a moment he smiled. "I think we have a winner."

"Oh yeah!" said Jane as she jumped up and down. "Two years in a row!"

Ethan spent the rest of the night trying to push the encounter from his memory, but with every ornament he hung the words of the smiling boy echoed through his mind. As he put up the last red orb he saw the crazed smile from before. In his pocket the feather felt heavy with sorrow. What did it mean?

* * *

6th December 2012 (AM)

"I haven't seen that kid around since Monday," said Sarah as she looked between her friends. "Why would he show up to school for one day and then just leave?"

"Because he's making a point," said Ethan. He described his encounter at the tree yard and the strange emotions the feather was giving off. "I think he's messing with us right now."

"Why did you even keep the feather?" asked Benny. "You should throw it out, we have no idea what it'll do."

"For once I agree with Benny," said Sarah. "That feather is dangerous."

"I don't have it with me," lied Ethan. "I left it at home, but we need to figure out why he wants to destroy Christmas."

Before either Benny or Sarah could answer Rory appeared at the table, in his hands were several photos.

"Ok guys," said Rory as he sat. "I have proof that Santa is real."

"This I have to see," said Sarah as she turned to face him.

"Ok see this," Rory held up a picture of a half eaten cookie. "This is a bite Santa took from the cookies I left him last year. How do you explain that?"

"Those are probably from your parents," said Ethan feeling a little guilty at crushing his friend's dreams. "I hate to burst your bubble, but Santa is made up."

"Ok, so maybe it's not his bite but what about this?" He showed them a picture of an empty glass of milk. "My parents can't drink milk, and clearly this milk has been drunk. What do you say to that?"

"Dude, every year your mom gets Christmas heartburn," said Benny. "That's the only reason we can't come over to show the epic stuff we get until the day afterwards."

Rory looked Benny right in the eyes. "There's still plenty of time left to prove you wrong, you non-believers. Mark my words I will get the proof I need or my name isn't Rory!"

And he was gone. For a moment the trio merely looked at one another in disbelief. Then they began to laugh, the moment was cut short by an angry scream. The cafeteria doors burst open as Erica stormed into the room.

"Who put this on my locker?" She was holding up a small red envelope. The entire cafeteria fell silent.

"Isn't that an invitation to what's his name's holiday party?" whispered Ethan as he ducked his head. Benny nodded trying to disappear into the table. If there was one thing they feared it was an angry Erica. The students looked between themselves daring someone to approach the furious blonde. It was eventually Sarah who ended the icy standoff.

"I thought you liked being invited to parties?"

"Not Christmas ones!" yelled Erica as she stormed out of the cafeteria there was the sound of metal being smashed and broken. Once she was gone there were several sighs of relief.

"What was that all about?" asked Ethan after the students began to go about their usual antics.

"I don't know," said Sarah with a look of unease. "She won't tell me what's bothering her, and it's only getting worse. I'd hate to see what she's like at Christmas."

"Don't worry," said Benny as he got up. "Detective Weir is on the case. There's not a single detail that escapes these eyes."

"Are you sure this isn't a job for Ethan?"

"Please, you need someone with the power to defend himself," said Benny with confidence. "And I can run way faster than him in case something goes wrong."

He took off into the hall after Erica. It was just Sarah and Ethan.

"I was wondering if you have plans this weekend," said Ethan trying to act as casual as possible. "Because if you didn't Jane and I are going to visit the mall Santa and I was wondering if you wanted to tag along."

"Your mom actually lets you take Jane to the mall all by yourself?"

"It's the one thing she doesn't think I can screw up. So what do you say?"

"So it'll be just like babysitting except we'll be in the mall and I won't be getting paid?"

Ethan flushed red and began to tug at his collar. "When you say it like that- I mean- if you don't want to I-"

"I'd love to go with you guys," said Sarah as she placed her hand on Ethan's. "Just don't expect me to take a photo with Santa and you."

"Aw, why not?"

"Vampire remember?" said Sarah with a huge smile on her face. "Or did you forget?"

"Oh yeah," said Ethan as he laughed. "I kind of did, sorry."

"It's ok. It's kinda nice to forget that I'm not exactly normal every now and then."

"So we're on for this weekend?"

"It's a date."

She stood up and waved goodbye. Ethan felt the world spin around him. Did she say date?

* * *

6th December 2012 (PM)

Erica felt the tears well up in her eyes, she had managed to avoid Benny, who seemed to take to to stalking her, but now alone, and in the comfort of the locker room she began to cry. She couldn't tell Sarah the reason for her sadness, it was almost to impossible for Erica herself to understand. She looked up at the mirror and longed for a reflection to look at. For the first time since being bitten she wanted to be normal. The moment of self reflection was broken when a strange boy appeared in the mirror.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Erica as turned to face him fangs bared. "This is the girl's locker room! Get out of here before I rip off your arms!"

"I know the pain you feel," said the boy as he slowly approached her. His voice was clam, measured, melodious. "You feel alone, isolated. It's a sadness that cannot be expressed. And I fear, it's something we both have in common."

Erica turned to look at the mirror and felt more tears well up in her eyes. "What do you want?"

The boy touched her shoulder, as he did two large black wings emerged. "I merely want to end your sorrow."

He plucked a single feather and held it up to her. She looked at it and he nodded. Erica reluctantly took it in her hand let out a small gasp as it disappeared into her skin.

"It's ok," whispered the figure. Erica struggled to stay focused as the world began to fade around her. "The pain will end soon enough."


	3. Weekend Warriors

A/N: You have no idea how happy I am you guys are enjoying the story. It means a lot to me when I get feedback and see how much you guys like it. So here's another chapter, and quite an action packed one at that. So I've gone ahead and outlined the entire story, and it's going to be about 9 chapters long wrapping up on Christmas Eve. I hope you guys will stay along for the ride! Expect updates every three to four days! Enjoy! Oh and beware this is the first of three rather long chapters!

* * *

A Very Whitechapel Christmas

Chapter 3: Weekend Warriors

8th December 2012

No matter how many times Ethan went to the mall during the holidays it never failed to astound him how crazy it got. He watched with a strange sense of fascination as people seemed to fill the mall to the brim, each one going about their own business not even stopping to acknowledge the others around them. The thoughts were shattered as he noticed Sarah heading in their direction.

"Hey guys," said Sarah as she walked up to them.

"Hi Sarah!" said Rory before Ethan could respond. Sarah looked at him, and then at Ethan.

"Ethan told me how you guys were going on a date to see Santa, and I figured what better way to start my quest for truth than with friends?"

"Aren't you a little old to be seeing Santa?" asked Jane.

"You're brother says Santa doesn't exist and I'm determined to prove him wrong."

"You do realize that the Santa here is fake right?"

Rory looked offended. "No wonder your brother has no faith, if the younger sibling doesn't believe then the whole family falls apart."

"Sorry," said Ethan refusing to meet Sarah's eyes. "I know it's not exactly what we planned but-"

"It's ok," said Sarah as she took his hand. "What are we waiting for? Let's get in line."

"Finally someone with some brains," said Jane. She ran over to Sarah and pulled her free from Ethan's grip and ran off towards the center of the mall. Ethan sighed, he was too distracted to notice the feather in his pocket was beginning to feel heavy. He felt slightly dejected, but this was only the beginning of the date, it could only get better from here on out.

Upon arriving at the center of the mall they were greeted with a giant tree that towered over everything. Tinsel ran from all different heights and connected to several different guardrails, banisters, and even some pillars. At the base sat none other than Santa. Once they were in line Rory turned to Ethan.

"Sort of a lame place for a date."

"I said the same thing," said Jane.

"It's the thought that counts," said Sarah as she grabbed Ethan's hand and pulled him close to her. Both Rory and Jane giggled. "Besides it could be worse."

"Yeah Erica could be here, or Benny," said Ethan with a laugh.

"Or him." Rory pointed towards Santa, standing behind him was the boy in the black scarf. In his hand were two black feathers.

"Oh no," whispered Ethan as the boy smiled."Rory take Jane and get out of here."

"Why?" asked Jane. "I want to see Santa."

"Me too!" whined Rory

"Just do it!" said Sarah and Ethan together. In one fluid motion the boy slid a feather into the back of Santa's head. The man slumped forward; the other went into the tree. Ethan felt Sarah's grip tighten on his hand, for a moment nothing happened.

Then all hell broke loose. The towering Christmas tree in front of them began to shake. The tinsel unhinged itself from the surrounding building and began to swing through the air. The center of the tree bent back revealing a mouth filled with broken ornaments. The tinsel began to grab people.

On the ground Santa let out a bloodcurdling roar. Ethan caught one last glance of the boy before he vanished into the panic. All around them people were screaming as they tried to get as far away from the creatures as possible.

"Whatever you do don't let Jane out of your sight!" screamed Ethan as he went against the current of people. Rory nodded and pulled Jane close to him before disappearing into the crowd. Despite Rory's goofy antics and personality he knew his sister would be in safe hands. The tree's tinsel tentacles came crashing down on the second story's banister sending debris in all directions.

Santa was looking from person to person like an animal on the prowl. Ethan took a moment to examine the Santa Beast: razor sharp teeth, long pointed claws, glowing green eyes, yeah this wasn't going to be easy.

"What do we do?" whispered Sarah as they darted for cover behind a pillar. "I don't want to hurt him."

"I'd worry more about us, that tree's going to bring this whole place down unless we do something."

A branch came crashing down next to them and swung through the pillar. Dust filled the air; both Ethan and Sarah ran for a new hiding place. The Santa Beast saw them and a moment later was jumping through the air. Sarah pushed Ethan out of the way as it crashed down onto her. Ethan hit the ground hard, with blurry vision he looked over his shoulder to see Sarah struggling to hold the beast at bay. Forcing himself up Ethan ran over and kicked the thing as hard as he could in the face. Sarah took advantage of the opening and sent it flying into the nearest shop display.

"Thanks," said Sarah as she stood up.

"I should've known he was here when the feather started feeling heavy," said Ethan as they ran for another source of cover.

"I thought you said you were gonna toss it out," hissed Sarah as a tentacle of tinsel came surging after them. Sarah caught it and pulled as hard as she could. It ripped at the base, and the tree let out a howl of pain.

"I never said I was," responded Ethan as he unsheathed the knife Benny's Grandma had given him. "Besides we have bigger problems to worry about."

The Santa Beast was coming after them again. Ethan waited until the last possible moment before moving to the side, as he did Sarah delivered a kick to the creatures face. It went flying backwards. They heard people screaming, looking up they watched as the tentacles pulled several civilians into the tree.

"We have to save them," yelled Ethan. "I'm going to cut them free, see if you can find anything to stop it."

Sarah nodded and went in the opposite direction. Dodging several tentacles Ethan made his way to the base of the tree. Grabbing into the lowest branch he hoisted himself up.

Sarah found what she was looking for in the first shop-a fire extinguisher. She ripped it loose and ran back towards the chaos. Ethan was halfway up when he encountered the first victim. A single child was wrapped tightly in the tree's pines. Using his knife he was able to cut the kid free.

"Climb down carefully, there's a girl on the ground who will help you ok?"

The kid nodded, and Ethan made his way up further.

From her vantage point Sarah could make out Ethan freeing people, and then the civilians as they made their way down. She pointed the fire extinguisher only to be knocked to the ground as the Santa Beast stood above her. The world was spinning, she couldn't focus.

"Sarah!" screamed Ethan from within the tree.

The Santa Beast was about to bite her when something knocked it forwards. Ethan looked around for the source of the attack; Benny stood a good distance away from the fight, his spell book in hand. He said another incantation and a blue orb shot forward freezing Santa to the floor. Ethan made his way up further freeing two more prisoners.

Sarah slowly got up and ran over to the tree, attacking any tinsel or branch with the fire extinguisher. Benny ran over and ushered the fleeing civilians away from danger. The tree was starting to slow down. Finally Ethan himself appeared.

"Are you ok?" asked Sarah.

"Let's finish this first before we start asking that!"

She nodded and together they ran. The tree struggled to attack them in its half frozen state. Benny chanted another spell. The ice on the tree expanded freezing the entire thing over. A large piece broke off and shattered as it hit the ground. It was the feather, or what was left of it.

_"Why did mom have to go away? I thought she loved us," the little girl was crying as she spoke._

Ethan ran over to Santa and grabbed its head in his hands. A moment later he was within the man's mind. He located the source of the transformation-a feather and crushed it.

_"Santa doesn't come for kids like us." The teenage boy was looking down at his brother."He doesn't come for the ones who have nothing."_

When he joined his friends in the real world he fell backwards onto the ground. The mall Santa was still frozen in place, but the fangs and claws were gone.

"Thanks for the save," said Sarah. "That was way to close."

"I'm just glad I was here spying on your date," said Benny with a smile. "How ya doin E?"

Ethan said nothing and just lay there trying to understand what had just happened. Did Benny or Sarah hear those voices?

"That was some date," said Sarah as she laughed. "We seem to have some kind of track record with these things."

"What happened?" asked Benny. "One minute everything's fine and the next trees and Santas are attacking people."

"It was that boy again," managed Ethan as he stood up. "He put a feather inside of the tree and another inside the mall Santa."

"I told you those things were dangerous!" yelled Benny as he stamped his foot. "Please tell me you got rid of that feather."

"Hand it over," said Sarah as she held out her hand. Ethan reached into his pocket, but found it was missing.

"I don't have it, I swear." Said Ethan as he flipped his pockets inside out. "See?"

"Let's get out of here before security arrives," said Benny. "Knowing my luck this will somehow end up being my fault."

Ethan said nothing as they ran out of the mall. Once outside he gave Sarah a look of sadness.

"I'm sorry this wasn't the best date you've have but-"

"It's ok," said Sarah as she gave him a hug. "It's defiantly one of the more memorable ones; besides it was kind of fun."

"Really?" asked Ethan. He felt a little bit up hope rise up within him.

"Yeah, good job climbing up that tree." She kissed his cheek. "I'll call you later."

She disappeared at the speed of vampire. Benny patted Ethan on the shoulder.

"Dude way to go."

"She had fun," said Ethan as he held his cheek. "She really had fun."

He then proceeded to pass out. Benny sighed, just another day in Whitechapel.

That night the news was filled with reports on the mysterious attack in the mall. The officials were calling it a prank gone horribly wrong. Several officials appeared and they all said the same thing: 'people should consider the consequences of their actions before doing something so stupid'.

Ethan stuffed his hands into his pockets still not believing that in less than twenty-four hours he had fought off two monsters and gotten a kiss from Sarah, sure crazier things had happened- but still a kiss! His thoughts shifted to the strange voices, should he tell his friends? Ethan shook his head, he wasn't even sure he had heard them. He pulled his hands free and touched his cheek again, it was then he noticed that something had fallen out of his pocket. It was the feather.

* * *

9th December 2012

Ethan had no trouble falling asleep when hit the bed the previous night, after his encounter with the carnivorous Santa and living Christmas tree he didn't think he'd ever wake up, that is until his mom knocked on the door.

"Ethan honey," said Samantha as sat on her son's bed and rubbed his back. "Benny wants to know if you're going to the city's annual statue festival today."

Ethan mumbled something that resembled a yes.

"He'll see you there Benny." She hung up the phone and then patted her son's head. "I just want to say that I'm so proud of you for making sure your sister was safe yesterday."

Ethan mumbled.

"And that I think it's time to end your annual Santa photo with Jane. I think it's time for a new family tradition."

Another mumble.

She kissed him on the forehead and was gone. Ethan slept another half hour before he finally got up, and when he did pain greeted his every movement. He pulled off his pajama shirt and looked himself in the mirror; he was covered in small bruises and scratches. Taking in a deep breath Ethan measured his mobility before getting ready for the day.

As was his daily habit he stuck the feather into his pocket. He met with Benny, who was surprisingly with Sarah, outside of city hall. A large crowd was already gathering.

"I love this ceremony," said Benny. "Something about a large bronze reindeer is just so amazing."

Sarah rolled her eyes and gave Ethan a concerned look.

"How are you feeling?"

"Sore, but I'll live," said Ethan as leaned against a lamppost. "We have to stop that kid before he does something like that again."

"Agreed," said Benny and Sarah in unison.

"But we don't know where he'll attack next. There has to be some kind of method to his madness."

"Any luck on Erica's bad mood?" asked Sarah as they waited for the ceremony to start.

"Well, I was tracking her," said Benny. "But she's good at escaping my tracking spells, like really good, other that that nothing."

They stood in silence, a few moments later the Mayor appeared.

"I know how you all feel after the horrid prank on our beloved mall yesterday," announced the Mayor from behind the podium. "And we will find the hooligans responsible for it, and when we do they'll think twice about doing such a thing again."

The crowd murmured in agreement.

"We will address this incident again in due time, for now we celebrate our annual statue unveiling!"

The crowd roared with excitement. As silly as it sounded the holidays didn't really start until they replaced the statue of Reverend Black, Ethan, Sarah, and Benny all scoffed at the name, with the Whitechapel Reindeer. They cheered as the mayor approached the stature to unveil it, they cheered as he pulled the white cover away, then they gasped. The statue was missing, in it's place was a regular reindeer lawn ornament. Who dared to steal something as sacred as the bronze reindeer statue?

On the top of the lawn ornament was a single black feather. The trio looked at one another.

That night when everyone was asleep the boy in the black scarf walked slowly down the street. Next to him the large bronze reindeer was keeping pace, its eyes glowing dark red.


	4. Ethan's Guardian Angel

A/N: Good to see you guys are really enjoying story, and I'm quite interested at how much you guys want to see 'the boy' defeated. Anyway it's time to give him a name wouldn't you guys agree? This will help provide some insight into what's going on, and maybe raise a bunch of questions at the same time. So prepare yourself for a semi-emotional ride and don't forget to leave a review. For update information check out my profile!

* * *

A Very Whitechapel Christmas

Chapter 4: Ethan's Guardian Angel

11th December 2012 (AM)

Ethan wasn't surprised to find himself alone, Benny was pursing Erica, Rory chasing after Santa, and Sarah was following a lead on the location of the reindeer statue. He looked down at his food and felt a small pang of sadness well up inside him, he wasn't sure why but he suddenly felt very alone. He pushed the feeling far from his mind and instead chose to think about the strange boy's plan for stopping Christmas. It was obvious he was planning something, both his vision, and the attack and proved it, the question was where and how?

Ethan closed his eyes; he saw the feathers, the mutating Santa and tree, the missing reindeer, and the sad voices that had come from the ruined feathers. What was it about this boy that gave him such power? Better yet what was his power and what did it have to do with the feathers? The more he thought about it less it made sense, was he some kind of mythical being he'd missed during his previous researches? Or was he an entirely new type of creature?

The bell rang, Ethan looked down at his half eaten food and decided to toss it out. He wanted answers, no he _needed_ them.

Benny watched Erica as she rounded the corner, and vanished from view. He slowly followed her from a safe distance and watched as she put a small wreath on her locker. She wished the boy next to her a 'Merry Christmas' before leaving.

"Strange," thought the young spellmaster to himself, he approached her locker, and waited until he was alone in the hall. He waved his hand as his Grandma had taught him and muttered a spell under his breath. Nothing happened. The spell was supposed to reveal any supernatural items in her locker, and apparently there were none, so what had caused her sudden change in attitude?

Benny thought about it and came to one conclusion: Ethan could figure it out. But to be on the safe side he would follow her for another day or two before reporting to his best friend.

* * *

11th December 2012 (PM)

By the time Ethan had finished his homework it was dark out, he looked at his cell phone. No texts or calls from any of his friends, it was beginning to bother him. Everyone was busy with their own thing, so why would it bug him so much now? On the desk the feather began to glow. Ethan looked around; there was no sign of the strange boy. He picked it up and felt himself pulled into a vision.

_The young boy was doing his best to remain quiet. His black hair vanished as he slowly placed a beanie on his head. The boy laughed silently, he had seen Santa's sleigh in the air! But perhaps more importantly he had watch it land on the outskirts of town in the forest. If he hurried then he might be able to catch Santa-the REAL SANTA!_

"_Alec what are you doing?" asked his younger sister as she sleepily sat up. _

"_Nothing, go back to sleep," said Alec as he slowly put on a jacket. "I'm just going to see if I left my bicycle outside."_

_The girl murmured something and lay back down. Alec slowly exited the room._

Ethan was home again. The outline of Alec was standing at his door motioning for him to follow. Ethan grabbed his jacket and followed the strange aura.

"Where are you going?" asked Ross looking up from some papers.

"I'm just going to out to get something," responded Ethan as he followed the boy. Was it possible that this kid would one day become the creature they were fighting?

Sarah landed with a thud; snow did not make for the easiest landings. According to what she had heard a giant reindeer had been spotted on Sunday leaving Whitechapel. Thinking about what the boy had done to the tree and Santa, it made sense that he had brought the statue to life. She walked cautiously through the street, she was sure she could handle herself, but there was no need to let her guard down. It was then that she saw Ethan running a distance ahead of her; he looked like he was following something. She was about to call out for him when she noticed the feather in his hand. A mixture of fear and anger rippled through her.

Her first thought was to pursue and make sure he was ok. The second was Ethan lied to her

Ethan had followed the Alec out of his house, and then into the forest. After what felt like hours they arrived at a small slope, he watched the outline slide down and went after it. A few minutes later they were in some kind of depression, Ethan didn't recognize this part of the forest. Alec stopped in the middle of the field. Ethan was cautiously walking over when the feather activated his visions again.

_Alec ran as fast as he could and stopped when he reached the middle of the field. He looked up and saw something flying away in the sky, it could've been anything, but to him it was Santa. Alec let out a frustrated cry and turned to head back when the strange sound filled his ears. It sounded like glass cracking, he looked down. He wasn't standing on a field he was standing on a frozen lake. _

_Alec felt fear grip his heart, what was he supposed to do? When he tried to take a step forward the ice cracked even more. He began to cry; the tears blurred his vision and froze to his face. Despite the urge to live, the desire to escape, and the longing to see his sister again, he knew he wouldn't. _

_Deep down in his heart Alec knew he was going to die. _

_It came as no surprise when the ice finally gave way and he plunged into the arctic water below. It felt like he's been hit by a powerful force, pain and cold swept over his body. He tried to scream, and water filled his lungs. Bright lights began to flicker in front of him, Alec reached out for them. The voices of his family resonated deep within his mind. __Eventually the lights began to fade into the darkness and a strange sense of warmth came over the boy. _

_He thought of of his family. He thought about playing with his sister, eating Christmas dinner with his grandparents, and even bicycling with his friends. No matter how Alec struggled to remember the memories, but they too faded into the black abyss. _

When Ethan came to he realized he was crying. While he wiped the tears away, a sudden revelation came forth, he was standing in the exact same spot Alec had when he plunged to his death. He turned slowly and felt his heart sink when the sound of cracking ice filled his ears.

"I never thought that someone besides me could access the powers of the feathers."

Ethan felt fear overpower every one of his emotions. Standing at the edge of the lake was the strange boy. It was Alec.

"Why are you doing this?" managed Ethan through his chattering teeth.

"What do you mean by this? Do you mean the incident at the mall, or perhaps the theft of the statue? Or mayhap you mean what I did to your friend?"

"Alec, you don't have to do this," said Ethan as the ice began to crack even more. "You don't have to ruin Christmas because you died."

The boy let out a laugh. "My name is not Alec, and while I admit I do look like him, we are not one in the same. He perished here nearly eighty years ago, I have been around far longer than that. If you want something to call me by then allow me to suggest a name. How about what every kid dreads to find under their tree on Christmas morning? How about you call me Coal?"

"Then what about the vision?" asked Ethan shivering despite the jacket. "Why would you show me the memories of Alec's death?"

"I only gave you the feather, you unlocked everything else yourself. You have the power of sight; do not be afraid to use it in the pursuit of truth."

Ethan said nothing and prayed for a miracle. Coal looked at him; there was genuine sadness in his eyes.

"I thought you were my intellectual equal," said Coal as he began to move closer. "It's a shame to see you limited by the gift you hold so dear."

"Why are you doing this?" yelled Ethan in fear. The ice wouldn't hold out for much longer. "Why Whitechapel? Why now?"

"I've given you everything you need to understand me, and you still don't. Maybe it's for the best you die tonight; it'll just be another memory to add to the ever expanding collection."

His wings spread out behind him as he turned to leave. In a desperate attempt to escape Ethan yelled the only thing that came to his mind.

"I can help you! My friends and I, we can help you. It's what we do."

Coal turned to him, the sadness replaced by anger.

"You cannot help what you cannot hope to understand. Maybe in death those around you will learn what it means to be sad, and then forgotten. Then they will know what it means to be me. Farewell, Ethan Morgan."

Ethan watched as Coal slammed his foot down on the ice with an inhuman force. The cracks spread, and he felt the ground give way under him. The last thing Ethan saw as he plunged into the cold abyss was the snow falling from above.

Sarah rushed forward and locked eyes with the boy before diving into the water after Ethan. A moment later she emerged with her friend in tow, she looked at the boy again.

"The next time I see you I swear I will rip open your throat," hissed Sarah as she bared her fangs.

"Funny," said Coal as he turned to leave. "Your friend said something similar."

His wings arched out from his back and he vanished into the falling snow. Sarah picked Ethan up and ran as fast as she could to his house. His parents looked far from please to have their babysitter show up soaking wet carrying their unconscious son. Once inside and in dry clothes Sarah allowed herself to exhale a bent up breath. She was waiting in the living room by the warm fire when Jane sat on the ground next to her.

"Thanks,"

"For what?" asked Sarah confused.

"For making sure Ethan's ok. I know I make fun of him and his crush on you, but he's my brother, and I can't imagine losing him. Especially around now when everything is supposed to be about family."

Sarah reached out and gave Jane a hug. A few moments later Samantha and Ross walked in.

"Sarah we can't thank you enough for helping Ethan out," said Samantha, there were tears in her eyes. "I can't imagine-I'm sorry."

She left the room and Ross cleared his throat.

"What we're saying is that you mean a lot to this family, and if there's anything we can do for you in return just let us know."

Sarah nodded. "It's ok, I'm just glad I saw him when I did."

"Do you know why he was that deep the forest?"

"No, I was walking outside trying to clear my head when I saw him running into the forest. I'm glad I followed him."

Ross nodded. "I'll ask him when he's awake. But again thank you so much. Jane it's time for bed."

Sarah watched as Jane went up the stairs before putting on the jacket that Samantha has lent her. She gave Ross a hug.

"Can you let me know when Ethan's awake?"

Ross nodded and Sarah waved goodbye. On the way back to her house it suddenly occurred how much Ethan really meant to her. She stopped and let the thought bounce around her mind, was it possible? No, she couldn't be… could she? Was it possible she was in _love_ with Ethan?

Before she could offer a mental rebuttal she caught sight of the large bronze reindeer. It took one look at her before vanishing darting into the forest. She debating on pursing it, but something seemed to pull her towards the street it has just come from. It was in ruins, every single holiday ornament was smashed and there was even a crushed car. That thing needed to be stopped before someone got seriously hurt.

* * *

12 December 2012

At school the next day Ethan refused to meet Sarah's eyes. He was used to being saved by her but never on such a large scale. There was no other way around it, Sarah had saved his life, and for some reason he was embarrassed by it.

"Ethan can we talk about last night?" asked Sarah as she tried to make eye contact. "Why were you in the forest, and why were you with that boy?"

"His name is Coal," said Ethan. "And I was following the memories in the feather-"

"I thought you got rid of that thing!"

"I thought it was gone, but it wasn't!" yelled Ethan as he finally looked up. "It keeps coming back and no matter what I do it always ends up in my pocket or on my desk. I don't know why, but I think it's the way to defeat Coal."

Sarah said nothing, there was a look of pain in her eyes.

"I'm sorry I yelled." Said Ethan

"It's ok, I didn't mean to get so mad at you," said Sarah as she tried her best not to appeared as worried as she felt. "It's just last night you almost died, if I hadn't seen you then you might not be here right now."

"But I am," argued Ethan.

"I know but after I left your house I began to realize that-"

Benny sat down at the table and looked between them. There was an awkward moment of silence.

"Good to see you're alive after last night," said Benny with concern written all over his face. "I heard what happen. Do do you have any idea how much you owe her for saving your life? Come one E, what were you thinking going into the forest at night when we have some kind of demon loose, not to mention the reindeer statue."

"Benny, I'm fine." Said Ethan as he looked between his friends. "Guys seriously I'm fine."

"I saw the reindeer last night," said Sarah. Benny's arrival meant the discussion of her feelings for Ethan were going to have to wait. "It's alive, not much of a surprise there, and it's attacking houses with decorations. Why?"

"There's more to it than that," said Ethan. "He sending us messages. We just need to figure out what it means."

"Ok then, I also have some interesting news for you," said Benny. "Erica seems to be in the Christmas spirit. Saw her singing carols, wearing a Santa hat, heck I'm not sure but I think she may have given away a few toys to charity. Something is clearly wrong."

Both Ethan and Sarah looked at one another. "Coal!"

"Coal, like what Santa gives me every year?"

"No," said Ethan. "Coal, is the name of the boy whose been causing problems. He told me he did something to one of our friends. What if he put one of those feathers in Erica?"

"Then why would she be so happy?" asked Benny looking confused. "Doesn't the feather turn people evil? I don't know about you but I prefer this Erica over the one we saw last week, I'm just saying."

"Did you ever find out what was wrong with her?"

"No," said Benny. "But I will, I'm going ask her after school today. And has anybody seen Rory lately? I swear it's been a few days since he's been around."

Ethan and Sarah shrugged. There was far more pressing matters at hand.


	5. Reindeer Games

A/N: So we've officially crossed the threshold of the halfway mark. Everything from here on out is nothing but intense action packed romance moments. I'm not going to lie, if I didn't have a deadline the next five chapters (including this one) would've been separated into about ten, yeah that's how intense they get. I hope you'll stick around till the end because things are about to kick into high gear. Just so you guys known I'm teasing you with the Ethan/Sarah stuff at this point (or am I?). Enjoy! For future updates check out my profile, and if you have any questions send a PM!

* * *

A Very Whitechapel Christmas

Chapter 5: Reindeer Games

13th December 2012 (PM)

The students in the hallway parted as Erica strolled by, whether in fear or in respect Benny couldn't tell. Some of them wished her a 'Merry Christmas' and others merely looked away as if they feared for their lives, which when you really thought about made sense. Either way something was definitely up, last week the very mention of the holiday would've sent her into a rage that would ultimately cost the school board hundreds in damages. Today she merely laughed it off or smiled and continued on. The puffball on her Santa hat swung back and forth as she gave each and every one of the boys her 'special smile', it made Benny sick.

He was determined to get answers from her one way or another. He had planned on approaching her yesterday but his Grandma had needed him for their family photo, today however there was nothing that could stop him. He wanted the old Erica back, the one that loved Christmas the one that didn't care what others thought, not the one who hated the holidays or the one who pretended to be something she wasn't. He was determined to reach that part of her personality even if it killed him-which is might.

"Merry Christmas," said Benny with a big smile as he approached her. "You certainly look in a more festive mood than normal."

Erica smiled as she patted her Santa hat. "Thank you, I was afraid you guys weren't going to talk to me after last week."

"I wanted to ask you about that."

"About what?" Her smile was starting to unnerve him, she seemed so calm and collected.

"Why were you so sad last week? You came into school, and almost killed someone because they smelled like gingerbread cookies, and now your going around acting the complete opposite. I know we don't get along, but I'm worried. No one can change that fast overnight."

Erica slammed her locker shut, it was bent from the force. Benny took a step back in fear, her eyes were glowing yellow, but her happy demeanor didn't change. "I don't feel like talking about it right now." She made to leave.

Benny put up his arm to prevent her from going anywhere. "You aren't leaving without telling me what's wrong. Ethan and Sarah think you might be possessed by Coal."

"Who's Coal?" For a moment there was the flicker of something else in her eyes.

"About Ethan's height, black hair, dark circles under his eyes, has two large black wings." Benny noticed Erica's sudden change in expression- he didn't like it. Was it recognition or something else? "He uses feathers to bring things to life, he was the one who destroyed the mall, stole the reindeer, and almost killed Ethan last night. I've seen what he can do. He's dangerous and we need to stop him, but we need the entire team. More importantly we're worried about you. Ethan's going to end up using his telepathy if you won't tell us what's wrong."

Erica took a step back, she was on the verge of tears. "You wouldn't understand."

"What do you mean?" asked Benny confused.

Erica's fangs appeared, on reaction Benny pulled out his spell book, the two stared each other down. There was a tense moment when she appeared as if she was going to bite him and instead turned to leave. "Why do you care about my problems so much?"

"Why?" asked Benny incredulously. "Why? Because you're my friend that's why!"

Erica looked at him there were tears in her eyes. "I hate Christmas because it will eventually mean nothing to me."

"What?"

"You're supposed to spend time with your family and friends, but how can I when everyone I care about is mortal? I'll experience a thousand Christmases and for each and every one of them I'll be alone."

"I thought you wanted to be a vampire. And you'll have Sarah with you."

"Sarah wouldn't understand. She's looking for a cure with Ethan, she doesn't see herself as a vampire. If she somehow turned back into a human then where does that leave me? I'll be alone with people I could care less about. The more I think about it the more I realized that I don't want this."

Benny didn't know what to say, instead he pulled Erica into a hug. She cried into his shoulder. "Maybe you weren't meant to be a vampire, did you ever think about that?"

She shook her head and mumbled something.

"I know you don't like being well not what you are now, but maybe that's the problem. Your trying to hard to fit in somewhere you don't belong."

Erica looked at Benny and wiped away her tears. She said nothing and took a few steps back. "You really think so?"

"You don't have to stay a vampire forever, one day Ethan will find a way to make you human again."

"I'll go back to being nothing, I won't even have my powers." said Erica as she looked down at her hands. "I can't go back to nothing... to being invisible."

"Is having your powers really worth the unhappiness?"

She looked at him and shook her head. When she did a feather appeared in her hand, they both watched as it fell to the ground. Benny smashed it with the heel of his foot.

"Coal gave me that because he could sense how unhappy I was, he used it to make the pain of being alone go away. I couldn't tell anyone about my feelings, I wasn't sure how."

Benny nodded. "It's ok. Erica I want you to know that I'll always be here if you need anything. Even if it's just to talk."

She smiled and nodded, then suddenly gave him a shove backwards. "If you tell anyone that I was crying I swear you'll regret it more than Rory did when he dyed my hair black."

"Good to have you back," said Benny sarcastically. "Wait Rory dyed your hair black?"

Erica was already strolling down the hallway, Benny sighed things were definitely back to normal.

* * *

Ethan and Sarah walked down the street together, things were still tense between the two of them. He was feeling a little better about the whole incident from the other day, but he could still see the worry in Sarah's eyes. It was something he wasn't used to.

"I know you don't like the idea that I have the feather," said Ethan trying to break the ice between them. "But I think it's an important part of trying to stop Coal."

"Ethan it tried to kill you," She took a step towards him. "You don't know what it's like to have something like that happen, the whole time I was carrying you back I thought you were going to die."

"Sarah I know the feeling, when you left for summer I wasn't sure you were going to come back. I didn't know what I was going to do, I thought-" He turned red as he remembered the days he spent waiting for her, for some sign she would return. "I thought you were gone for good."

"Ethan that's different, you knew I was ok. You might have died!"

"Sarah I didn't know if were ok!" Ethan was yelling now. "That's why I was so worried. I didn't know anything about you; you could've been staked or killed by another vampire. The sooner we understand Coal the closer we'll get to stopping him."

There was another silence between them. Sarah looked away, and Ethan felt ashamed that he has raised his voice. The lights on the trees around them did little to alleviate their foul mood, but after a while they found themselves staring at the bright blue orbs.

"Where are we going?" asked Sarah after a few minutes passed.

"I want you to meet a friend, that's all." They had reached the entrance of the park when Ethan stopped. "Sarah I'm sorry that I made you worry so much." She said nothing, and Ethan felt his heart sink.

"Are we really not going to talk because I'm too stubborn to admit I made a mistake?" He tried to look her in the eyes.

"Don't do that," said Sarah as she turned around.

"Do what?"

"That puppy dog thing you do, it's-" She caught herself and began to walk in the other direction. Ethan was laughing now.

"Oh come on Sarah!"

A few minutes later they met Ethan's friend Garret, a young artist. He was sketching the lights in the park when they came upon him. They spent a few minutes talking when Ethan suddenly threw his arm over Sarah's shoulder. She felt herself turned red and smiled. For a moment any friction between the two melted, and all that was left was something that couldn't be put into words. Garret smiled and a few minutes later they were on their way.

"What was that all about?" asked Sarah trying to remember that she was mad at him.

"Nothing, I just wanted you to meet him," said Ethan as he walked ahead of her and stopped. "Sarah I really am sorry about the other day."

"Stop that," said Sarah as she turned in the other direction. He was doing the 'puppy thing' again. Ethan appeared in front of her again with a look of sincerity on his face. When Sarah tried to turn she found herself tangled in Ethan and then on the ground. He was on top of her, they were both bright red now.

"You know I really care right?" said Sarah looking up at Ethan, to her it was a whole new perspective on the young teenager.

"Really, like care care?" asked Ethan as he felt his heart race.

"Did you really just ask if I care care about you?" asked Sarah with a little giggle. Ethan groaned at his poor choice of words before flopping onto the ground next to her. He didn't think it was possible but he was sure he had turned redder.

"I really-"

He was cut short by a loud snort. They both looked up, the bronze reindeer was standing in front of them and next to it was Coal. Both teenagers scrambled awkwardly to their feet.

"Greetings Ethan, Sarah. I'm sorry to have ruined your little moment." Coal smiled at each of them. "I'm glad to see your alive and well. I was so worried you might have died in the water."

"You wanted me dead," said Ethan he pulled the knife out of his jacket.

"No," said Coal as he looked up. "I've merely shown people what it means to suffer. Do you really think every single person in this world has a happy Christmas?"

"No," said Sarah. "Not everyone, but who are you to take that away from others?"

"I'm going to accomplish something that even old Kris Kringle would be proud of." He motioned for the reindeer. "Be careful. Even someone of your physical strength will have a hard time holding back something this solidly built."

The reindeer charged. Sarah caught it by the antlers and struggled to stop it. It reared it's head sending her into the bushes. Ethan watched as Coal took the sky leaving them with the statue. It looked at Ethan and charged, Sarah jumped forward trying to hold it at bay.

"Sarah we have to go, you're no match for that thing!" cried Ethan as he began to back away.

"Fine, just be ready to grab my hand and we'll get out of here."

She let go, a moment later she had his hand and a few seconds after that they were at his house. In the distance they heard the cry of the statue.

"We're going to need back up to take that thing down." Said Ethan. "Tomorrow, we'll get Benny, Rory, and even Erica. We need all the power we can get."

Sarah nodded and looked at Ethan.

"Thanks for everything. I want you to know that I wasn't mad at you because you lied, I'm mad because you put yourself in danger without a second thought about how it might affect others, or me."

Ethan looked at her. "I-I'm sorry. I never thought about it that way."

She smiled and they both looked down awkwardly.

"I'll see you tomorrow," said Sarah as she gave him a hug.

"Of course," said Ethan as he placed a quick kiss on her cheek. She turned red as Ethan backed into his house. Sarah stood on the porch and touched her cheek. A moment later she raced off into the night a girlish smile on her face. Ethan leaned against the door, he was smiling too.

* * *

14th December 2012 (AM)

Ethan, Erica, Benny and Sarah watched as Rory took a seat at their table, he looked far from happy. It was definitely a unique look for the boy.

"Where have you been?" asked Benny as he took a bit from his sandwich. "It's been like three or four days."

"I came across a dead end while trying to prove Santa exists," said Rory with an unhappy look. "So I did the only thing I could think of. I went chimney hopping."

"Chimney hopping?" asked Sarah.

"I was going down chimneys to see if I could make it through Whitechapel in a few minutes like Santa. Unfortunately I got stuck in one of them."

Benny let out a snort. Rory gave him a heartbroken look as he slumped forward. "I guess it would be hard for Santa to fit down all of those chimney's."

"Keep trying," said Ethan as he tried to cheer up his friend. "You'll find the evidence you need."

Rory smiled and sat up. "Your right! Just because I couldn't do it doesn't mean Santa can't! Besides he has magic!"

Ethan nodded and then looked at all his friends.

"I'm sure you've all heard about the reindeer attacks by now." They nodded. "Good because tonight we're going to put an end to it. This is our last day of school before vacation starts. That means kids will be out later, which means there's a good chance the statue might actually go after someone. We can't let that happen."

"Then we'll stop it!" yelled Rory. "Nothing can stop Team V!"

He gave Erica and Sarah a high five.

"It's strong enough that even Sarah couldn't stop it's charge, we're going to have to work as a team on this one. I've even asked Jane to help us out."

They looked at one another.

"Are you sure?" asked Sarah. "She's still a little young."

"She may be young but she is a spellmaster. She'll be with Benny on the sidelines."

"Wait, what? Me?" asked Benny. "How is that going to work out?

"The plan is to prevent the statue from moving, if we can do that then I might be able to use my powers to get to the feather."

"Are you sure?" asked Erica.

The group looked at her. "Coal put one in me and used it to learn all about Whitechapel's Christmas traditions. Thankfully Benny was able to break the hold it had on me."

"Except it made you happy," said Sarah looking confused. "Why would it do that?"

"I don't understand," said Benny. "From what we've seen they bring things to life, so why didn't it change Erica in the same way it did the tree or Santa?"

"I don't know," said Ethan. "But we're going to figure it out, for now let's focus on stopping the statue. Our goal is to bring it back in one piece, if we have to then we'll destroy it. But I think we'd all prefer that didn't happen."

"Ok, we can do this!" said Benny. "Nothing can stop us! Whitechapel has nothing to fear anymore now that we're working together as a team."

Ethan nodded. "It's time we took the fight to Coal."

* * *

14th December 2012 (PM)

Ethan walked through his street with confidence. Even though he appeared to be alone, he knew his friends were all hiding, waiting to spring into action. Both Jane and Benny had casted a sleeping spell on the block, there were going to be no interruptions during this battle. When the clock struck eleven the bronze reindeer appeared, Coal was standing next to it.

"Why do you do this to yourself?"

"I could ask you the same thing Coal," said Ethan. "I know your planning on destroying Christmas on Christmas Eve, and I know it has something to do with those feathers."

"You should be grateful you know even that much. Your gift is what's taken you this far and it can only carry you for so long."

"Your leaving a trail of clues behind- why?"

"I want to see how close Icarus can get to the sun before he burns."

"Funny, I'm not the one with wings."

Coal snapped his fingers and the reindeer charged. Both Sarah and Erica fell out of the sky and ran forward. Each one of them grabbed an antler and held the statue at bay. They were slowly being pushed back when Rory fell out of the sky and right onto the thing's head. It was slammed into the ground.

Benny and Jane appeared from the upper window of Ethan's house chanting a spell. The ground turned to mud and the reindeer began to sink in. The three vampires all took a step back. Benny chanted another spell, the ground hardened. The statue was stuck in place.

"Ah yeah!" said Rory as he jumped up. "In your face!"

Coal didn't look in the least bit worried. The statue began to struggle against the cement, it's head swinging back and forth.

"Ethan do your thing!" cried Erica.

"I can't when it's moving it's head like that!" yelled Ethan as the reindeer suddenly broke free. It charged at Ethan. He dove to the side and felt a hot pain run through his leg, it had clipped him. Erica and Rory both attacked the statue. Sarah helped Ethan up and to his front porch.

"Stay here," said Sarah before joining her friends. Rory was knocked backwards onto the ground by one of the hooves, he wasn't moving. The reindeer almost crushed him, Benny blasted it sideways. Erica and Sarah took to opportunity to knock it to the ground. While it was struggling to get up Ethan limped over to Rory, he was out cold.

"Come on," said Ethan as he smacked the blonde's face. "Get up."

Once the reindeer was on it's feet, it charged after the two boys. Sarah caught the thing by the antlers and struggled to hold it back. It was beginning to tear through her hands. Erica ran forward and punched it as hard as she could. Sarah used the momentum to throw it to the side.

"What happened to not walking anymore?" asked Sarah as she ran over to Ethan's side.

"Sorry," said Ethan.

"Can you two flirt later?" asked Erica as she picked up Rory. "We have bigger problems to worry about."

They nodded, and Sarah picked Ethan up. They retreated into the house, outside the statue was getting back up. Benny and Jane were blasting it with several different spells.

"Be careful," said Ethan as Sarah placed him next to the window. She nodded and together with Erica headed back outside. The reindeer was waiting for them on the lawn, a large dent was visible on it's side.

"We're going to have to destroy it," said Sarah. "I don't think we have any other choice."

"Be careful," said Erica as she held up her hand, it was bruised. "That thing is solid."

"I have an idea. Benny, Jane get ready to freeze it's head ok?"

"Got it!" cried the two spell masters from the second story window.

Sarah ran forward and slid across the ground and right under the statue. Taking in a deep breathe and using both both feet she kicked the reindeer on the lower half of it's stomach. It tipped forward and when it did Benny and Jane froze the head to the ground. Erica realizing Sarah's plan took to the sky and came crashing down. Dust and debris filled the air, she had come down with enough force to bend the middle of the body at a strange angle.

A feather fell out from the creature onto the ground and Erica slammed her foot down on top of it. Inside the house Ethan let out a groan as the voice of an older man rang through his mind.

"_I wanted to believe they would come visit me, and they didn't come. I've given them everything and they can't even take the time to visit their father during Christmas."_

Coal took to the skies. He looked more entertained than anything else. Erica was about to take off after him when Sarah held her back.

"We'll get him another time. We're both hurt." Sarah and Erica's hand were cut and torn from where they'd hit the statue. It would take them a few days to heal but they had done it. They had bested Coal. When Sarah limped into the house, Ethan limped over to her.

"Sarah your hurt!"

"Your not doing much better yourself."

They embraced and helped each other to the sofa. Erica limped in and sighed. "What about me?"

Benny appeared at the stop of the stairs and swept her off her feet. "How's that?"

Erica shrugged. "It's actually nice."

Rory slowly got up and looked around, he saw Ethan and Sarah holding hands on the sofa, then Benny carrying Erica over to a chair.

"I must be some kind of alternate dimension." He passed out again.

* * *

15th December 2012

The city seemed unnaturally quiet as the bronze reindeer statue was found smashed in the middle of the park. It was Ethan's idea to move it, the less anything could be linked him and the other the better. Benny and Jane had tried to repair the statue but it was beyond their abilities, for now Whitechapel would have to go without it.

Despite their victory, it was beginning to feel less and less like Christmas.


	6. Snow Wars

A/N: Here's another chapter, and an informative one at that! At this point I feel as thought I'm teasing you with the whole Ethan/Sarah pairing, but you know what it makes it that much more fun. I wish I had a little more time to flesh out some of the story arcs, but time is of the essence. Were down to the final four chapters, enjoy! And feedback is welcome!

* * *

A Very Whitechapel Christmas

Chapter 6: Snow Wars

15th December 2012 (PM)

Coal stood atop of Whitechapel's city hall, his black wings were spread out behind him. In the moonlight they gave off a ghostly glow, he took a moment to admire them before focusing his thoughts on the matter at hand. Despite his best efforts and the destroyed reindeer statue the city remained full of light, happiness, and life. Yes there was some sadness in the air, but theses were all material things, his moment of triumph would come soon enough. The opposition had proven stronger than he anticipated, worse than that was the fact he needed more time to gather power for his plan. He looked again at his wings, Ethan and his friends had yet to discover the true powers of the feathers, but they might. And that was something Coal could not allow.

In front of him the Whitechapel Christmas tree was glowing, at the top was a single red and gold star. He could animate the tree; no he needed something that would stall for at least a day or two. He needed something that would run out the clock. Ethan was smart, there was a possibility he could figure out his plan, Coal had left enough clues behind. He thought of Ethan and how the feather had almost succeeded in killing him. Even the best laid plans had flaws in them. He hadn't factored the vampire in, she always followed him around, next time he would be ready for that problem. He thought of the vampires, perhaps they were the best course of action?

Coal shook his head, they wouldn't work. Erica had already broken free from his control, and would be the wary side. The other two would take too much effort to control. In addition he wanted to make a statement. What about the spellmaster?

The more he thought about it the more sense it made. The book that the boy always carried was the best way to buy time and ensure they didn't get in his way. He took off into the sky and a few moments later was circling the top of Benny's house, he could sense several strong enchantments around it, landing would not be an option. Instead he landed on a neighbor's house and watched for a chance to strike, he went through the feathers until he found one he liked- a particularly nasty one filled with anger, regret, and hatred.

For a moment Coal wondered if this was really the best course of action. He closed his eyes and tried to think of a time before the feathers, of a time when things weren't driven by hatred. For a moment the flicker of a memory came forward and was snuffed out again by the shadows within. There must always be a catalyst. The top window of the Weir house opened and the young teenager leaned out the window with the book in hand. Coal jumped forward.

Benny leaned out the window reading through the chants in his book, if he did this correctly the city would be covered in snow by sunrise. Behind him his cellphone began to buzz, Benny leaned back trying to reach for it. He didn't notice the single feather fall from the sky and fuse with his spell book. He started the chant over again, this time dark clouds began to gather in the sky. Snow began to fall.

Benny raised his fist in triumph. Tomorrow was going to be the best day ever.

* * *

16th December 2012

Ethan leaned back in the chair and massaged his leg, even though Evelyn and Benny had managed to close the wound it will hurt. He picked up the feather in his hand, and slowly turned it around. These things had the power to animate, held memories and what else? What about Erica? The feather didn't transform her, instead it made her happy. The more Ethan thought about it the less and less it made sense. He leaned back in his chair and looked out the window, it was snowing hard; so much for hanging out with his friends today.

The feather began to glow; Ethan picked it up in his hand and was immediately pulled into the vision. It was the same one he experienced days before: Alec waking up, running out to the forest, and then drowning in the lake. The vision restarted and the same series of events played over again. Ethan forced himself into the real world. He thought about everything that had happened, he pulled out a piece of paper and began writing them down.

"_Maybe__ it's for the best you die tonight; it'll just be another memory to add to the ever expanding collection."_

The mutated Santa.

"_I've merely shown people what it means to suffer. Do you really think every single person in this world has a happy Christmas?"_

The living Christmas tree.

_"You cannot help what you cannot hope to understand."_

The statue.

"_Maybe in death those around you will learn what it means to be sad, and then forgotten."_

Erica's sudden change in attitude.

"_Then they will know what it means to be me.__"_

Then it hit Ethan, everything made sense. The feathers held memories, but not just any memories those that belonged to people wronged or hurt someway on Christmas. In a way they were a supernatural storage for pain and suffering. The one left behind when the statue was stolen, and the one inside of Erica were different, they must have been feeding on the depression and negative emotions. It made sense especially considering the circumstances. When Erica confronted her own insecurities it must've broken the hold the feather had on her. The one left of the pedestal was never recovered, Coal must've come back for it.

So he was feeding on negative feelings; the more he thought about it the more things seemed to make sense, especially considering the method of attacks he was using. The idea was further enforced when Ethan thought about the items and locations in questions. They needed to be public figures, something that had an impact on the society. Erica was the only exception, she was just an example of how close he could get to them.

His thoughts went over to Coal, he was using this emotions and memories to manipulate objects to his advantage. It was only when they either destroyed them, or the feather that control was broken. Coal's wings were covered in feathers, was it possible that each and every one of those was capable of animating objects? How many years of misery did he have at his command? Ethan shuddered.

So his ultimate goal was to stop Christmas, but why? Was it to absorb the negative emotions or something else? The boy often spoke about being forgotten, maybe there was something they had missed. Ethan thought about Alec, was that part of a plan to eliminate him, or was there was deeper connection? He felt like he had more answers than questions. The feather was glowing again, Ethan held it in his hand. If it was filled with negative emotions and memories was it possible to change the purpose and perhaps power? Only one way to find out.

_Ethan found Alec getting ready for his journey to find Santa, instead of watching Ethan reached out to stop him. He didn't know what to expect, especially considering he'd been an invisible specter the last few times. When he touched the boy's shoulder the room shuddered and began to loose focus. The boy looked at him and pulled back in fear._

"_Who are you?"_

"_Listen you can't go out into the forest," said Ethan. "You'll die out there."_

"_I know," said Alec as he put his cap on. "You don't think I know that, this is my fault. I made my family miserable. I'm the one who ruined everything for them, and this is my punishment- to live my death over and over again. You don't know anything about loss, you have a sort of innocence to you."_

_Ethan didn't know how to respond. It was true, compared to plenty of people his life was good. The room was beginning to come back, and he knew time was of the essence._

"_You don't have to live like this," said Ethan as he followed behind Alec. "By living in this loop you're giving into the hatred. I know you feel guilty about the pain you've caused your family, I did something like that just the other day. Here, take my hand and I'll show you." _

_He held out his hand and Alec gave him a strange look before taking it in his. Ethan thought about falling through the ice, and then of Sarah saving him. He showed him the arguments they had, and how now they were closer than ever._

_"__The past is the past. Yes you caused your family pain, but you have to move past that. It's been nearly eighty years since you died on the ice, it's time for you to forgive yourself. You were a kid that night when you went out, you didn't mean any harm. If you can't see than then you'll experience the pain of death over and over again. I'm not sure you even know this, but your anger and hatred are being used by others."_

_Ethan showed his visions of Coal, then of the destruction that often followed him. There were flashes of the destroyed houses, the smashed reindeer, and finally of the strange sadness that was overcoming the city. Alec pulled free of his grip and took a step back, he looked sad._

_"He made you destroy the Whitechapel reindeer?"_

_Ethan nodded. "We didn't have a choice, it's what he wanted us to do. And as much chaos as he's caused he's also brought me and my friends closer."_

_Memories of Rory, Erica, Benny and Sarah surged forward. Out of all of them Sarah was by the most overpowering. Again Alec shook himself free of the older boy's hand, though this time it was different. He was filled with a comforting warmth he hadn't felt in a long time. The room was coming back into focus._

"_You need to remember the happy times, yes there are dark times. But letting them control you and forcing __yourself to relieve them is terrible. I know you think you can't fight the pain, but you can."_

"_How?"_

_"All you have to do, is remember what made this time of year so special. Yes something bad happened, but you've already been punished for it. Keep remembering the good times, and this-" Ethan motioned to the room. It was full of light and warmth, sitting around the fire was none other than Alec's family. "Is what happens."_

_Alec was crying now, Ethan motioned for him to join his family. The boy took one last look at him, and Ethan waved goodbye and took a step backwards._

He was back in his room, the feather on his desk was giving off a bright color. When it faded Ethan was rewarded with a bright white feather. If it was possible to free the feathers, then was it possible Coal wasn't as bad as they had all thought? Ethan looked out his window again, the snow was so heavy he couldn't even see the front lawn. He pulled out the gifts he bought, for Benny a new shirt with a video game design on it, for Rory a book about Santa Claus, Erica was getting a new set of headphones, and Sarah she was getting something special. The door opened and Jane walked in.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Haven't you heard of knocking?"

"Yeah, but it's just you. Anyway are you wrapping your gifts?"

"What if I am?"

"Then let me help, you can't wrap at all."

Ethan tried to think of a counter argument, he had none. Jane was right, he couldn't wrap to save his life. He spent the next half hour getting lessons on how to wrap gifts from Jane. When they were done his sister looked confused.

"What no gift for Sarah?"

"I have a gift," said Ethan as he got up slowly. "Promise you won't tell her?"

"I promise, you have my word."

He limped over to hid desk and pulled out a golden locket, it shimmered in the light.

"No way," said Jane as she looked at it. It was in the shape of a heart, she opened it. There was room for a picture. "I thought Sarah couldn't take pictures."

"She can't but I have a way to work around that," said Ethan confidently. "Think she'll like it?"

"If she doesn't then mom will have to fire her." said Jane as she laughed. "How's your leg feeling?"

"It hurts a little," said Ethan as he sat on his bed. "But I'll be ok in a few days. Is there anything you want for the holiday?"

Jane smiled. "When Sarah brought you home that night, I realized that all I really wanted was to keep our family together."

Ethan smiled and gave his sister a big hug. Christmas was one of the few times their sibling rivalry came to a halt.

"So even if I got you that really cool music box you wouldn't want it?"

"I wouldn't say no to that..." They began to laugh. The rest of night they spent thinking of gifts for their parents, it was starting to feel like Christmas again.

* * *

17th December 2012

Ethan was jolted awake by his cell phone, he searched for a few moments and gave up after it stopped. It starting buzzing again, in his morning grogginess the sound seemed to come from all over the place. After a few minutes he eventually he found it underneath the wrapping paper. The message was from Benny.

"_Look out the window!"_

Ethan got up and looked out, down below was Erica, Sarah, Rory and of course Benny. He opened his window and was greeted with a rush of cold air. The entire city was coated in a fresh blanket of pure white snow, the storm had finally stopped. On the street his friends waved to him.

"Get down here!" called Benny. "Or you're going to miss all the fun."

A few minutes later Ethan limped out of the house and found that Jane had joined the group. He gave them a confused looked.

"Are you ready for the most intense of all winter rituals?" asked Benny as he looked at each and every one of them. He clapped his hands together and carrot appeared. "It's time to start the annual snowman building contest."

"Snow man building contest?" asked Sarah as she gave the boys a strange look.

"Every year the kids and teenagers of Whitechapel get together and build snowmen. It's not a real competition, but it sure it a lot of fun. When it snows enough we get a text from whoever organizing it," said Ethan as he held up his phone. "I got the message last night from Benny who strange enough is the one who planned it this year."

"Thanks to a little spell of mine," said Benny with a cocky smile. "Now which one of you is ready to create the best snowman ever?"

"Sounds like fun," said Sarah. "What does the winner get?"

"Bragging rights, and this!" said Benny as he pulled a snowman trophy out of his bag. "It's based on popular vote, and last year yours truly won!"

They set off in the direction of Benny's block.

Sarah watched Ethan limping. "Are you ok?"

"I'll be fine," said Ethan as he rubbed his leg. "How are you feeling?"

"My hands and feet are already healed, it's the only good thing about being a- a vampire. Look at all the snowmen."

Already kids had lined the streets with snowmen, Sarah grabbed Ethan and together they headed off. Rory looked at Jane. "Let's show these fools how it's done!"

"Yeah!" said Jane as she gave him a high five. Benny looked at Erica.

"Since everybody else is working together…?"

"I guess," said Erica trying to act disinterested.

Ethan and Sarah chose a spot in front of Benny's house to build their snowman. Together they managed to get the basic shape down, and soon they set upon adding the details. Ethan watched as Sarah carefully placed the rocks on the top of the snowman, she was taking so much care to make it look nice. He let out a little laugh.

"What's so funny?" asked Sarah

"It's nothing."

"Come on, you can't laugh and then not tell me."

"It's you," said Ethan suddenly realizing how it sounded. "Not you, but how much care you're taking to make the face. It's kind of cute."

Sarah was bright red now. "Ethan the other day when we were attacked by the statue you were going to tell me something, what was it?"

This time it was Ethan's turn to blush. He kicked the ground sheepishly.

"I-I wanted to tell you that I care a lot about you." Ethan grabbed both her hands in his and looked her in the eyes. "And that you mean a lot to me."

They stood like that for a moment when both Ethan and Sarah began to lean in. Before their lips could meet someone screamed in the distance. They were followed by several shouts and roars.

"What was that?" asked Sarah as she pulled away from him.

"I don't know," said Ethan suddenly worried. "Let's go!"

Everyone along the street was looking for the source of the commotion when a group of small kids suddenly appeared at the end of the street. They were running, when a moment later several mutant snowmen appeared behind them.

"Really?" asked Benny as he ran over to Ethan and Sarah. "Mutant snowmen?"

He created a fireball in his hand, Sarah and Erica ran forwards. Behind them several snowmen came to life. Kids began running in all directions, things were getting out of hand. Ethan unsheathed the knife from his jacket, and plunged it into the closest of the snowmen. It let out a roar before turning into a puddle.

Jane was cowering next a house when Ethan finally made it over to her. Rory was fighting off as many as he could to keep her safe.

"This is the stupidest thing ever," said Rory as he punched the face of the closest snowman. It burst into dust. "One minute we have the coolest snowman and the next it's trying to eat me. It would be so cool, if it wasn't so scary. What's going on?"

"I have no idea, but I'm willing to bet that Coal is behind it in some way."

Another batch of snowmen was upon them, Ethan swung his knife at each one. Benny was on the other side of the street keeping as many kids safe as he could. They were outnumbered, it would only be a matter of time before they were overwhelmed.

"I'm sure I've seen this is a comic somewhere," said Benny as he blasted a snowman next to him. "Any plans on how to stop them?"

"You said this was thanks to you," said Erica as she kicked one of the monsters back. "What exactly did you do?"

"All I did was create a snowstorm, sure it was a little stronger than I thought it be. I only brought the snow!"

"Way to go!" screamed Sarah as she picked up a shovel and cut one of them in half. "Thanks to you we're going to be eaten!"

"I didn't bring the snowmen to life!" whined Benny as he used a spell to freeze several of them. "I brought the snow here; maybe what's his name is the one doing it!"

"We can't fight with one another now!" said Ethan. "We have to focus on stopping them. Benny can you cast a spell to make it warmer? If it stays this cold then we'll have to cut each and every one of them down."

Benny nodded and opened his spell book, when he did Ethan felt the feather in his pocket go warm. Was it possible? Ethan pulled the book out of his friend's hand.

"Hey!"

He closed his eyes, he could see Benny's emotions built into it the spell book. A moment later he was swimming through the thoughts and emotions within. He began to search for the foreign feelings- the ones of hate, loss, and anger. The feather was buried at the base of everything, and unlike the others he encountered in the past, this one was giving off a dark and malevolent feeling. It was almost alive. Ethan reached out to touch it when it zapped him, he felt pain run through his entire body.

Benny blasted another snowbeast and looked at his friend, Ethan was in some kind of trance. Sarah, Erica and Rory were all back to back, and they looked exhausted. Time was clearly of the essence and it was ticking against them. Benny used several more spells, the kids were either in awe at the fight or in complete shock. What ever the case Benny stood in front of them, nothing was going to get past him. He heard Jane chanting spells behind him.

"Don't worry Benny, I'll help you." Benny smiled, they weren't going down without a fight.

Inside the book Ethan was doing his best to fight off the feather's defense. There had to be something he could do, the longer he took the worse things would be getting. Bracing himself Ethan charged forward, he grabbed onto the black feather and felt it fill him with hatred and agony. Ethan struggled to hold onto his own thoughts, Sarah was the strongest memory he had. He used it to shield himself, and using the last of his energy he smashed the hatred with his hands. The voice from within ripped at his mind.

_"IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" It was a man screaming. Snow was flying all around him, in his arms he cradled something small and fragile. "I DIDN'T MEAN FOR THIS TO HAPPEN!"_

The attack was so powerful and sudden Ethan felt himself plunge into nothingness. He was struggling to hold onto his memories, but it was being drowned out by the anger and despair of the man. Eventually even his memories and thoughts of Sarah and Benny began to fade.

Benny closed his eyes preparing for the snowmen to bear down on him, when the attack never came he slowly opened them. Ethan was still kneeling on the ground, but a strange darkness was flowing from the within the spell book. It surged in all directions, each and every snowman suddenly burst. The strange shadow gathered above the kneeling boy and let out a wail of pain before dissipating. Sarah, Erica, Rory, Jane, and Benny ran over to Ethan.

Benny was the first to reach him, he knelt at his side and waved his hand in front of the boy's eyes. He was in some kind of trance.

"What's happening?" asked Jane. "Is he going to be ok?"

"I don't know," said Benny as he pulled his book free from Ethan's hand. "I think he's in a daze."

Ethan floated through the nothingness, in the distance he saw Sarah, but he couldn't reach out for her. _"SOMEONE HELP ME!" _The pain from the man's voice hit him like a physical force. Sarah became even more and more distant until at last there was nothing but darkness.

Sarah began to scream as Ethan's body fell to the ground in convulsions.


	7. Ethan's Resolve

A/N: A few chapters back someone asked how are they going to fight Coal, I hope this answers your question. We're reaching the end, all that's left is the two part finale. So enough with the banter here ya go!

* * *

A Very Whitechapel Christmas

Chapter 7: Ethan's Resolve

?

_Ethan struggled against the blizzard, it was bearing down on him with increasing intensity. If he didn't move faster then everything he worked for in the past hour would be for not, and everything he had lost would… He couldn't afford to think about that now, he held the small and fragile baby against his body. He needed to keep her warm; his wife's death would not be in vain. He could not lose his daughter as well. Ethan felt his body start to go numb. He would not give up now, not when he could see a town just over the hill._

_Ethan pulled the coat tighter around him and the child when he felt his legs give out from under him. There was no hope, he was out of energy, and he couldn't feel his legs. He was sleepy, and exhausted. He just wanted to lie down and forget the world around him. _

_With one hand he began to crawl, the other held his daughter tight against his body. It suddenly occurred to him that she had stopped crying, and that was a fear far worse to him than any other danger he's encountered. He looked down, she was light blue, she was dead. That was the breaking point for Ethan he let out a desperate cry. _

_"IT'S NOT MY FAULT! I DIDN'T MEAN FOR THIS TO HAPPEN!"He was crying, the tears did nothing to alleviate the swelling depression within him. "SOMEONE HELP ME!"_

_Ethan screamed at the top of his lungs, for a moment he was unsure who he was calling out to or why. His breathing was labored, he was tired. Slowly his eyes began to close, and soon he fell asleep. The world around his ceased to matter, all that was left was the numbing cold that surrounded him. When Ethan came to he was in the cabin watching his wife scream. The child was on its way._

* * *

17th December 2012

"I've never seen anything like this at all," said Evelyn as she looked over Ethan's unconscious body. "Explain to me what happened again."

"We were fighting off those snowmen," began Benny when Jane suddenly broke out in tears. Sarah pulled her into a hug and exited the room. The color drained from Benny's face. "And he tried to destroy the feather in my book. When he did, we saw the darkness disappear, but Ethan's been like this since."

"This is some serious dark magic," Evelyn placed both her hands on Ethan's head. "He's locked inside his own mind. Other than that I can't tell what's wrong with him, it's almost like he's sleeping."

"He was having some kind of seizure earlier," said Erica as she took a few steps forward. "Do you think the feather possessed him?"

"He destroyed it," offered Rory. He held up the damaged feather in his hand. It was clearly broken in half. "Do you think it had something to do with Benny's book?"

"I don't' know, but we're going to have to talk with his parents," said Evelyn. At the mention of family the entire group looked uneasy. "I know you don't want too, but this is something far beyond our powers. He might not wake up for days, his parents need to know what's happened."

"Can't we just tell them he's staying over here? We might be able to break him out of this!" said Benny. "They can't know about his powers, not yet at least."

"What about Jane?" asked Sarah as she walked back into the room. "We can't send her home in the state she's in, they'll know something's wrong."

"Then we'll erase her memory," said Benny, the words were bitter coming out of his mouth. "We'll make her forget the last few hours. What other choice do we have?"

"That's cruel," said Rory as he kicked the ground. "We can't do that."

"I agree with him," said Erica. "It's a horrible thing to do, we can't erase her memory."

"What choice do we have?" asked Sarah. "I agree with Benny, we don't know how his parents will act? What if they take him to a hospital? This isn't something that can't be handled with medicine."

"Agree with what?" asked Jane as she walked back into the room. Her eyes were red from crying. Benny looked at his friends, who with the exception of Sarah looked uneasy. On the sofa Ethan began to groan, Evelyn placed her hand on his forehead-he was freezing cold. Benny muttered the spell and watched as Jane's eyes went unfocused. Sarah caught her.

"I'll take her home," said Sarah as she left. "I-I need a few minutes to myself."

When she was gone Benny placed his hand on Ethan's forehead and began to chant several incantations. Evelyn placed a blanket on the boy before joining her grandson. Together they were determined to try and break Ethan free from his mental prison. Erica and Rory took a seat and watched as they fought to free him, it was going to be a long night.

When Sarah arrived at the Morgan household she was greeted with the same strange looks as the night she brought Ethan home soaking wet and half dead.

"It's ok, she's just tired from all the running around," said Sarah as she lay Jane on the sofa. Ross looked around.

"Where's Ethan?"

"He's staying over at Benny's they're in the middle of a video game marathon or something."

"Thank you for bringing her home," said Samantha as she took a seat on a chair. "You know Jane really does adore you, I guess you could say the same of Ethan."

Sarah looked down sadly, and quickly bid goodbye before rushing out of the house. Both Ross and Samantha shared a strange look. Once outside Sarah let herself tear up, Ethan was trapped within his mind, and there was no way of getting him. Sure Benny and Evelyn were strong, but Coal had proved time and time again that he was no pushover.

What if Ethan didn't wake up? What is he remained that way for the rest of his life? Today wasn't one of the first times they had lied to his parents, and she knew it wouldn't be the last. She felt angry and punched a tree. It was nearly torn in half from the force. She ran away, trying to clear her mind. Again she thought about her feelings for Ethan, in the end she had more questions than answers.

* * *

_Ethan felt the cold wash over him as he struggled to make it to the village. Was this his punishment for failing his family? Exhaustion began to take over, the snow swirled around him in the distance he could see a figure approach him. After a moment Ethan was able to make out the shape of a young boy, he looked familiar. _

"_You have to fight it," said the boy. "You helped me escape; now you have to. Don't let the hatred and negativity take over."_

"_My wife is dead, my daughter is dead. I have nothing left to live for."_

"_You don't have a wife and daughter," said Alec as he extended his hand. "Ethan break free, don't let yourself be consumed by another person's anger."_

"_I-I'm…" Ethan fell to his knees. He tried to reach our for Alec's hand when he slumped forward. Alec ran forward and grabbed Ethan's outstretched hand. _

"_This isn't your pain! This isn't who you are! Your mind is being held against its will by the feather. You need to break free! If you don't then you'll be stuck like this forever! You have friends! There's Benny, Sarah, Rory and Erica! You have a sister and a family!"_

"_**He'll stay in here with me!" **__Another person appeared from the depths of the flurries, it was an older man. "__**He'll rot in the snow like I did. He'll learn what it means to lost to the world."**_

"_That's not for you to decide."_

"_I will not give into you," said Ethan as he got up. "You have to fight against your misery and pain."_

"_**I have every right to wallow in pain; I've lost everything, my wife, my daughter, even my own life! You don't know what it's like to be lost in darkness."**_

"_You are a sad creature," said Ethan. "This is my mind, you don't belong here!" _

_The ground began to shake and memories flashed all around them. Alec smiled and took a step back. Ethan looked at the man. _

"_You may think you have the right to whatever you want because you've suffered in the past, but you don't! It's time to let go, it's time for you to move on!"_

_The storm began to close in on them, it engulfed the man. He was encircled in an orb; trapped within his own storm, his own memories, and his own anguish. The older man pounded against the prison; there wasn't forgiveness in his eyes only accusing hatred. Ethan gave him a sad look and turned away._

"_You can't save everyone," said Alec. "There will always be those who cannot be cured, there must always be a catalyst for the pain."_

_Ethan said nothing and then placed his hands on the orb, he brought forth his strongest memories then smashed it with all his might. Nothing was left. _

"_It's time for you to wake up now," said Alec as he turned to leave. _

"_Thank you," said Ethan. "You saved me."_

"_Be careful," said Alec as he began to fade. "It's like I said before, you can't save all of them."_

* * *

19th December 2012 (5 Days Left)

Ethan slowly opened his eyes; the last thing he remembered was taking the book from Benny. Everything after that was a blur, and then it came rushing back to him. The frozen tundra, the screams of pain, and Alec saving him. He reached into his pocket, the white feather was still there.

"Ethan your awake!" said Sarah as she pulled him into a hug. Ethan felt sore; the only plus was the lack of pain in his left leg was gone. "You have no idea how glad I am you're awake, we were so afraid we'd lost you."

"What are you talking about?"

Benny came forward. "You were out cold for almost two days, one minute we were fighting the snowman and the next you were on the ground. Grandma and I tried to break whatever was controlling you but we couldn't. It was too powerful."

Ethan looked around; Rory and Erica were standing at the far end of the room. They too had looks of concern on their faces.

"I'm ok," said Ethan as he got up. When he did his legs gave out from under him, Sarah caught him by the arm. "Thanks."

"You should take it easy," said Evelyn as she entered the room. "There was some serious dark magic controlling you."

"I was saved by Alec," said Ethan as he relayed the series of events. "He was able to break the man's control on me. If this is the kind of power Coal has, we need to be careful."

"Coal," hissed Rory as his fangs appeared. "If I get my hands on him Santa's going to have to put me on the naughty list!"

"Same here," said Erica. "You don't with mess with our friends."

"If it's been a day or two then I should head home," said Ethan as he tried to walk to the door. Everyone was giving him a strange look. "What?"

"You just woke up," said Sarah worried. "You should be taking it easy."

"Sarah's right," said Benny as he took a few steps forward. "Just sit down and relax. You have no idea what that feather might have done to your body."

This time Ethan stopped, he saw the pain and worry in both Benny and Sarah's eyes. He took a seat, and felt the sudden weakness wash over him.

Sarah took a seat next to him and took his hand in hers. "I was so worried."

"You have no idea how scared any of us were," said Rory as he sat across from them. "We thought you might actually die. Your body was ice cold, and you were moaning about your daughter."

"It was the feather," said Ethan. "It took control of my body; the memories were... I don't even know how to describe the feelings." He pulled the white feather out of his pocket. "Some of them can be changed, this was the one left on our table when all of this started."

"What did you do?" asked Benny as he reached for it. "It doesn't even give off that evil aura anymore. It feels so warm... and peaceful."

"I communicated with the memories inside it, and showed him that everything doesn't have to be dark and evil. He listened to what I had to say, I think this is the way to beat Coal."

"We have a way to stop the feathers," said Sarah. "But how will this actually stop Coal?"

"I don't know, but this is the only thing we have on him," Ethan thought about it for a moment. "Alec mentioned that there must always be a catalyst for those that can't be changed."

"So all the feathers can't be changed?" asked Erica.

Ethan ran through all the information he's gathered. "There are two types of feathers, the ones that contain the memories, and the ones that absorb the misery and give Coal his powers. The ones with the memories can be altered, but some of them refuse to accept that. The feathers with powerful memories cannot be changed, but maybe that's why Coal exists. Alec told me that they can't all be saved, that there must always be a catalyst."

"So then Coal exists as a medium for pain," said Evelyn. "It wouldn't be the first time emotions gave birth to a creature as a way to manage them. The better question is: if he was created to manage these memories and emotions then what happens if he's destroyed?"

The whole group looked uncertain; it was Erica who spoke first. "Maybe he isn't all that bad. He did take away my pain, and it did help me get over my Christmas anxiety."

"He needs to go down," said Rory. "If he's threatening Santa's holiday that makes him a problem!"

"I think Erica might be right," said Benny. "Look what happened to Ethan when the feather was smashed. If Coal really is the one who holds all that hatred in him, then where will it go if he's destroyed? I'm not saying we'll let him ruin Christmas, but we can't just destroy him like the others."

"He'd tried to kill you Ethan," said Sarah. "He needs to be stopped regardless of what might happen."

"We'll stop him," said Ethan. "He's brought the fight to us, and as Whitechapel's Guardians we'll do what needs to be done."

They nodded and one by one left, Sarah looked at Ethan and bit her lip. She wanted to say something-but what? Ethan looked at her, and she felt herself go red. She bid him goodbye and left, normally she would've confronted him about her feeling-but what had changed? Why was she suddenly so nervous?

* * *

20th December 2012 (4 Days Left)

The Morgan's Annual Christmas Party was in full swing. All of Ross and Samantha's clients, friends, and family were there. Ethan felt awkward as he tugged at his tie, the things he did to make his parents happy. Jane looked about as uncomfortable as he felt.

"How much longer do we have to wear these stupid clothes?" Asked Jane. "This is starting to itch."

"It's for mom and dad," said Ethan. "Besides the party will be over in another hour or two."

"Are you that determined to get out of here?" asked Sarah as she appeared. Ethan did his best to keep his mouth from falling open. She looked beautiful in her dress. "What's with that look?"

"Sarah!" yelled Jane as she gave her a hug. "I didn't know you were working tonight."

"Your parents asked me to come over; I think they wanted me to keep an eye on Ethan. You know how he always gets into trouble." She winked at him.

"Well now that you're here I can show you all the cool stuff I got you for Christmas!" Jane grabbed Sarah by the hand and pulled her out of the room. Ethan sighed and separated from the party a few minutes later. Once he was in his room he closed the door, and pulled the feather out of his pocket. It was still warm. if Coal could use the black ones to animate things then what could the white ones do?

He pressed it against his lamp, the feather melted into it, and began to glow. When the light faded the lamp looked newer. Ethan reached out to touch it and when he did he could sense a feeling of security and happiness it was giving off. He used his powers and removed the feather, when he did the lamp returned to normal. So the black feathers animated and mutated objects, and the white fixed them.

How strange… What did this say about Coal? He darted down the stairs to tell Sarah his discovery, but he couldn't find her anywhere. She was gone.

"Looking for Sarah?" asked Samantha as she took a seat at the table.

"Did she leave early?"

"Yeah, her parents called and asked her to come home early. She asked me to give you this." Ethan took the note from his mom and opened it.

_Meet me at the park tomorrow at sunset - Sarah P.S. Don't do that panic thing you do, it's nothing bad_

Ethan looked up at his mom who shrugged. "I didn't read it, but there's something so romantic about written word than text messages or phone calls." She got up. "But if by chance my son fell in love with the babysitter I might have to find a new one. Because there's no way I'm leaving two teenagers alone."

"MOM!" said Ethan as he turned red.

"I'm just stating the obvious." She placed a kiss on his forehead and headed back to the party. "You know the more I think about the more I realize Jane might not need a babysitter anymore."

* * *

21st December 2012 (3 Days Left)

According to internet speculation and various ancient civilizations the world was supposed to end today. To Ethan it felt like any other day except for the fact it went by so slow. Why did Sarah want to meet him in the park? Was she going to tell him she was secretly dating Rory or Benny? Or perhaps she had decided to move away? Was it possible that she was being possessed by Coal? There was an infinite amount of possibilities, and the more he thought about it the worse and worse he felt. He was already on his way to the park when the sun began to set. Maybe tonight was the night he would finally get to kiss Sarah.

Any thoughts of kissing were dashed as he examined the destruction in front of him. In the vanishing light, the bright blue bulbs would turn on and give the park a festive holiday feel. Now the lights lay in ruins, shattered bulbs covered the ground. Several branches were crushed or broken, a few trees had even been sliced in half. Ethan fell to his knees.

"Ethan what's the matter?" asked Sarah as she ran over to him. She looked up and saw the destroyed park. "Oh no."

Together they headed further in, it was clear the damage was spread across the area. They stood in silence, the park was supposed to be the heart of Whitechapel, the lights had as much as an impact as the reindeer did. Now with them gone, and with less than three days left until Christmas things seemed to be turning in Coal's favor.

"It has to be Coal," whispered Sarah as she stood at his side. "What are we going to do?"

Ethan said nothing and walked forward looking at all the broken bulbs, the crushed branches. What was Coal trying to tell them, was this part of his message? Ethan was about to mention it to Sarah when a shadow passed over them. In the rapidly vanishing light Ethan could make out a winged figure. Coal dove past the trees, his scarf was gone. In his hand a large black scythe shined. He charged straight for them. It was Ethan who responded first, he pushed Sarah to the side while trying avoiding the attack. A wing caught him by the arm and Ethan felt himself thrown backwards by the strike. Warm blood ran down his left arm, the wing has sliced through his jacket. Coal soared into the skies and threw the scythe at them. Ethan easily avoided the attack and watched as several trees collapsed under the weight of the weapon.

"Sarah are you ok?" asked Ethan as he made his way over to her. She slowly got up.

"I didn't think there'd be so much power in his wings." Sarah was massaging her arm where she'd been hit. "It was like being hit by a physical force of anger. Ethan you're bleeding!"

"I know," said Ethan. They watched as Coal surge towards them. "We have to move!"

Sarah shook him free and ran forward. Coal's wings disappeared, he landed on the ground and slide in their direction. He dodged her punch, his wings reappeared and caught her in the stomach, Sarah stumbled forward before crashing to the ground. Coal caught his weapon by the handle before turning around, he raised it high ready to bring it down on the vampire. Ethan charged forward and grabbed his head. There was a rush of memories, so many different people calling out to him that he was forced to let go. Coal caught him by the throat and lifted him up.

"You don't have to do this," gasped Ethan as he struggled against Coal's grasp. The blade was pointed at him.

"Ethan!" screamed Sarah as attempted to tackle the boy. Coal easily dodged the attack and threw Ethan into a tree. The scythe began to glow a moment later it was a scarf. Sarah charged at him again. He dodged her every punch, then caught her neck with the scarf. It transformed back into the scythe, Ethan felt fear rise up within him.

"Don't-" whispered Ethan as held up both his hands. "Please don't."

The scythe vanished, and Coal grabbed her shoulder. With a grunt he threw her into a bank of snow. Sarah let out a frustrated scream and charged at him again. He caught Sarah's punch. For a moment they locked eyes, then he smiled. His wings opened and he took to the air with Sarah in tow. Ethan watched as they vanished, his heart was pumping. He heard several shouts then nothing.

Coal descended from the air and landed on the ground, he looked sad and confused, he looked older than before. The scarf lay across his shoulders, and behind him his two wings disappeared.

"I thought it would be fun to compete with someone in an intellectual game of chess," said Coal as looked at Ethan. "But I've made a mistake. You've interfered far too much."

One moment he was at the end of the street, the next he was in front of Ethan his wings spread out behind him. "I never wanted to hurt anyone, and I am sorry, but it's time I ended this."

Ethan felt himself lifted into the skies, Coal was carrying him. He watched as Whitechapel turned into small lights and then nothing. It was freezing, he tried to take in a breathe and found it difficult. Coal lifted him until their eyes were level.

"It doesn't have to end like this," said Ethan as he grabbed Coal's arms. He began think about all the times he had with his friends and family, the feather in his pocket began to warm up. "Just let us try to help you!"

"What are you doing?" screamed Coal as he tried to break Ethan's grip, it was beginning to burn him. "Why can I sense you? Let go of me!"

Coal began to kick at Ethan, who refused to let go. "You don't have to be like this!"

Sarah watched as the duo swung back in forth in the air, she charged forward. "I do, because it's who I am. There will always be a catalyst between you and the hatred this holiday breeds!" Coal managed to free one of Ethan's hand, he reached for his scarf. "Goodbye Ethan Morgan, I look forward to collecting your memories."

Coal kicked Ethan in the face, but would not let go. Despite what he believed in, he had hoped it would not come to this. Coal swung the scythe when Sarah collided with him. In fear of hurting himself the scythe changed back into a scarf. Sarah swung her hand at Coal, he moved to avoid it. The sudden jerk caused Ethan to lose his grip and a moment later the vampire was diving after him.

Coal brought his hand up to his throat, there was a small trickle of blood from where Sarah had nicked him. _"The next time I see you I swear I will rip open your throat." _Coal let out a deranged laughed before flying away.

Sarah caught Ethan and crashed into a large snowbank. They were both breathing heavily. Ethan's left arm was covered in blood, he looked at Sarah she was holding her right arm.

"Are you ok?"

"I think he dislocated my shoulder when he pulled me into the air." said Sarah as she bit her lip. "How are you feeling?"

Before Ethan could respond the world faded from view.

_Coal was standing atop the Whitechapel Church, he was waiting for them. There was the flash of the dark black scythe, his friends fell to the ground one by one. Whitechapel was bathed in darkness… They had failed. Coal's wings spread open and he let out a strange laugh. _

"He's stronger than we thought," said Ethan as he lay his head on the ground. "We underestimated him."

"Ethan," whispered Sarah. When he looked at her she felt a strange sadness wash over her. He looked so sad, so defeated. "Never mind-it's nothing."

Ethan looked up. The sun was gone, they lay in darkness. Christmas was in more danger than ever before.


	8. Christmas Eve Part I

A/N: Here you go, I hope this is enough of a chapter to hold you guys over until the finale. Which will be posted on Christmas Eve! Again feedback is welcome, and enjoy!

* * *

A Very Whitechapel Christmas

Chapter 8: Christmas Eve Part 1

22nd December 2012 (2 Days Left)

Ethan spent the day at home trying his best to nurse his wounds from the previous night. Benny had done all he could to heal the cut on his arm, but the pain was still there. As for the bruises around his neck there wasn't much anyone could really do.

Ethan touched his neck gently and winced, he was lucky. The fact that he could still talk was a blessing, sure his voice cracked a little more than average but what could you do? His parents had yet to notice and Ethan intended to keep it that way. He wore turtle neck sweaters and shirts indoors and a scarf when he went outdoors. He thought about calling Sarah and then decided against it. She too was spending the day at home recovering, or at least a portion of it before heading out to visit family. Thanks to her vampire powers and Evelyn's magic her dislocated shoulder would heal within the day.

But for now they would be out of commission and that suited Ethan just fine. He took off his shirt and looked at his back in the mirror; it was covered in bruises from the impact against the tree. Coal had done some serious damage. What made it worse was the fact it was their first actual battle with the boy. What other secrets did he have? His speed, sharp wings, he's ability to skate across the ground, and then there was that scythe. His dreams last night had been plagued by it, that sharp blade striking him down. It was unlike anything they'd ever seen or encountered before.

Ethan thought about Sarah, something he'd been doing a lot of recently. She had wanted to talk to him last night, that much he knew, but as fate decided whatever it was wasn't supposed to happen. What about his feelings for her? Ever since this chaos had started he's tried to tell her how he felt, but every single time something had happened. What were they? Where they just dating? Or perhaps they were something more?

He thought of all the small kisses between them, the hand holding, and the 'dates'. Unfortunately all the unsaid words also lingered in his mind. Ethan looked at his clock and realized he hated days off. He picked up his cell phone and texted Sarah.

"What are we?"

_"What do you mean?"_

"I mean are we dating? Or are we just really close friends?"

_"Ethan is this really a conversation to have via text?"_

"..."

_"I can sense you making that puppy face again."_

"Am not." He was.

_"Can't we talk about this in person? What about tomorrow?"_

"I can't I'm picking up the last of my gifts. How about Christmas Eve?"

_"Isn't that when we're supposed to stop Coal?"_

"Sarah, I love you." Ethan held his finger over the send button, should he? Could he? His mind was going back and forth when his phone buzzed.

_"Ethan, don't send that._" It was from Benny. He turned around, Benny was standing in his doorway.

"How did you-?"

"I have this sixth sense kind of thing that lets me know when you're going to do something incredibly stupid." Benny sat at his desk. "Are you really going to say something that important over a text? Dude, even I know that's a bad idea."

"What am I going to do?" asked Ethan. "Every time I try and tell her how I feel something bad happens. Like last night or when that reindeer from heck attacked us, I just want to know. I mean we've shared a few kisses, but nothing special."

"Those aren't special?" asked Benny as he raised his eyes brows. "If I recall correctly you fainted after that first one."

"Shut up," said Ethan as he threw a pillow. His friend caught it. "It's I don't even know if I'm her boyfriend, and I want to share a real kiss with her."

"A real kiss? Is there a difference?" He was leaning in the chair.

"I want to share a kiss like the one you and Erica had when you used the love potion," Benny fell backwards onto the ground. "Except without the part where they tried to kill us."

"Never mention that again," said Benny as he looked around. "She'll kill me; I think she forgot about that part. Besides those weren't 'real' kisses. There wasn't anything behind them. Imagine a cool movie, now take away the good actors, script, specials effects and what do you have?"

"A really bad movie?"

"Exactly! There's actual chemistry between you two!" He grabbed Ethan's shirt and began to shake him. "If I can see that and I'm failing chem class then you should not only be able to see it but do something about it!"

"Ok!" said Ethan as he broke free of his friend's grip. "Then what should I do?"

"Next time you see her talk with her, it's the only way. You guys are an unofficial couple; all you have to do is take the next step!"

"You're right," said Ethan as he stood up. "I need to meet with her in person and tell her how I feel!"

"To bad she's at her Aunt's house and you have no way of getting to her," Ethan fell back onto his bed. Benny patted his shoulder. "Let her know on Christmas how you feel, chicks love that romantic stuff."

As if Ethan didn't have enough reasons to save Christmas.

* * *

23rd December 2012 (1 Days Left)

Whitechapel had changed. There was a growing sense of depression surging through the streets. It building up, gaining momentum and soon it would reach a breaking point. Coal stood atop the abandon Whitechapel Church, it like him had been forgotten in the ever moving world.

The small wound on his neck had healed, he was sure the vampire had saved Ethan. It didn't matter, soon everything would fall into place. On Christmas Eve the entire city would feel his pain, his loneliness. And then he would no longer be alone, after all there would be another just like him.

As Ethan walked through Whitechapel the effects of Coal's attacks were becoming more and more evident. People seemed solemn, and casted their eyes down instead of up. They seemed ashamed to meet one another's eyes, or perhaps they felt that one of these people was the one who had ruined the landmarks. Normally families could be seen at town hall taking pictures in front of the tree or reindeer. Now it was unnaturally empty, only a few citizens were seen and even they rushed past refusing to acknowledge to missing stature. To Ethan it felt like he had failed, that they had failed to protect the Christmas spirit. He was starting to feel depressed when he arrived at the mall. It only increased by the time he met with Erica and Rory, who both looked annoyed.

"What is wrong with everybody?" asked Rory as he looked around. "So a few things were destroyed? Is that any reason to give up on Christmas?"

"Look the mall is practically empty," said Erica as she sighed. "What happened to all the decorations?"

"They took them down," said Ethan as they walked around with no real purpose. "After the 'prank' they thought it would be better not to provoke another one."

The center was still covered in caution tape from where the tree had done damage. Several of the stores in the area had closed down; it felt unnaturally dark. The large tree had been removed, and the Santa station taken down. The only remnants were the fake pine needles and tinsel on the ground. Ethan sighed, they had tried so hard and it was becoming more obvious by the second there was no hope.

"This is sad," said Rory as they continued to walk through the empty mall. "Even if the real Santa showed up, it wouldn't be enough to bring back the holiday cheer."

"Can you blame them?" asked Ethan. "Everything the city does to celebrate has been destroyed in one way or another. The only thing left is the Christmas tree in town square, but no one goes near it because of the destroyed reindeer. Coal's won…"

"That's not the geek I know," said Erica. "You wouldn't give up; we still have a day left to stop him."

"Do you really think we can stop him?" Ethan removed the scarf from around his neck, the bruises from the attack were still dark purple. Erica took a sharp breath and Rory's mouth fell open. "We thought we could stand up to him, but he's stronger than we thought."

"He did this?" whispered Rory.

"Yeah, he also dislocated Sarah's shoulder," said Ethan as he covered his neck with the scarf. "She'll be fine thanks to her unnatural healing abilities."

"You guys tried to fight him yourself?" asked Erica. "I thought we were supposed to be working together as a team."

"Yeah! We're team V!" said Rory. "Next time you need help just ask us!"

"Thanks guys," said Ethan. "We didn't really have much of a choice, he attacked us. But we have one last chance to stop him, and it's on Christmas Eve. We don't even know what he's planning."

"By the way you're wrong Ethan," said Erica. "There isn't just one thing left, there are two. There's the town square tree, and the ringing of the bell."

"Bell?"

"Did you forget?" asked Rory. "They ring the bell in town hall at midnight to let everyone know its Christmas."

"_By the tolling of the twelfth bell your Christmas will be over."_

Ethan stopped, how could he have been so stupid? Was it possible? Did Coal plan on destroying the top the city hall as part of his plan? Or was that the point at which his plan would start? That couldn't be, his vision had shown him everything was to happen on Christmas Eve. And the warning… No it was going to happen on Christmas Eve, and it was going to happen before the bell began to toll. Then that was they're deadline-midnight of Christmas Day. He told them about his theory and was rewarded with shrugs. They needed to know more about the what, rather than the when if they intended to stop Coal's plan. The trio left the mall there was no use hanging around an almost empty place. As they walked through the city the feeling of sadness and depression was almost physical.

"I got to go," said Rory as he help up his cell phone. "I forgot I'm supposed to help my mom with the cooking tonight. My cousins are visiting and we always have a killer Christmas Eve dinner, it's so awesome it takes two nights to make. I don't really eat reagular now that I'm vampire, but a tradition is a tradition!"

He waved goodbye and took to the air. Erica and Ethan continued on to the park a strange silence between the two. Even in the daytime the park seemed sad and empty, any happiness it once had had been lost in the vandalism.

"Why are we here?" asked Erica as she walked next to him. "I thought you said you needed my help with getting a gift for Sarah?"

"I do," said Ethan. "And since she's a vampire and girl I figure you would be the only one who could really help me."

"Just because we both happen to be undead creatures doesn't mean we share the same things. I mean yeah we're friends but that doesn't mean we both love the exact same thing."

Ethan sighed. "Just promise you won't tell her what I got for her?"

"I will make no such promise," said Erica. "If it's something I disapprove of, I'll probably tell her."

"Should've asked Rory," mumbled Ethan.

Erica looked offended and said nothing. A few minutes later Ethan's friend waved them over, he handed Ethan a golden heart-shaped locket. Ethan handed it to Erica.

"It's so beautiful," said Erica as she looked at the it enviously.

"Open it up."

She did and her mouth fell open. Inside were two small sketches of Sarah, Erica looked at Ethan with a whole new feeling of respect. "This is amazing."

"Erica, this is my friend Garret, he's got a photographic memory," said Ethan. "I had Sarah come with me to meet him the other day."

One of the sketches had Ethan with his arm over Sarah's shoulder, both of them smiling and happy. The other was a picture of Sarah with a smile on her face, it was unlike anything Erica had ever seen.

"She'll love it!" said Erica as she held the locket in her hands. "Why can't anyone do something this special for me?

Ethan felt oddly relieved; he took the locket from Erica. "You think so? I was worried she might not like it."

"Why?" Then is dawned on Erica and she began to laugh. "You haven't realized it have you?"

"Realized what?"

"Things have changed; you used to worry about her. She worries more about you, you don't see it but she's chasing after you now, you've done a complete role reversal."

Ethan thought about it, yes there was something between them, but had he misjudged it that completely?

"You really think so?"

"I've known her as long as you've known Benny. I think I know what I'm talking about."

Ethan held the locket in his hand and thought about all the moments they had shared over the past month. Benny had said the same thing yesterday, had he really been that blinded by all the nonsense that had happened to see it?

"Think about it, you can't say there's nothing between you. You've been following her since the moment you locked eyes. When did she start following you? You know what it's like to have feelings, do something about it before you lose your chance. Anyway I have to go, I need to convince someone to get me a gift like that." Her fangs appeared. "Maybe Benny would."

And she was gone. That night as Ethan lay in bed he held the locket, this was supposed to be his best Christmas ever after all it was his first with Sarah. When had things gone so wrong? He thought about his plan to catch her under the mistletoe, it seemed almost a lifetime ago. Then he thought about all the fun times he had with his friends and family. Sure things has reached an all time low, but he wasn't alone. On his desk the feather began to glow, wasn't that the point of Christmas- to be with friends and family? The locket shined in the feather's light, it was a way out of the depression that was eating at him. Maybe they had a chance after all, even if it was a faint flicker of hope. Ethan soon drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face and the golden heart pressed against his chest.

* * *

24th December 2012 CHRISTMAS EVE

Ethan had spent the previous night finding his resolve, and not that he had it was time to act. When he woke up it was to a strange feeling in the air, a feeling of urgency. It seemed as though things were suddenly thrown into motion. There was a strange knot in his stomach, he was nervous. This was it. He went through the notes he had taken down.

_By the tolling of the twelfth bell your Christmas will be over. _It was the first real warning they had received, it fit in with the theory Erica had proposed. By the time the bell had finished ringing at midnight Coal's plan would be in motion it would be too late.

What would Coal use to set his plan into motion? The feathers seemed like the most likely method. _The living Christmas tree. The statue. The mutated Santa. _Santa brought gifts on Christmas Eve, was Coal planning his attack around that? He thought about the series of events that played out, everything pointed to Santa. He was the most known aspect of the season. _I'm going to accomplish something that even old Kris Kringle would be proud of._

Then he had the answer.

If he was going to try and reenact the most basic of Christmas folklore then that meant going across the city leaving gifts at each house. Coal was going to use feathers; he was going to use the millions of feathers at his command to destroy Whitechapel, but how? When? Ethan picked up his cell phone and sent a text to each of his friends. One by one they responded. They were just as lost as he was.

Ethan continued to write. _The snowmen, the park, the lake. _They didn't fit into the original pattern, but they did mesh together in another way. They were all attempts on Ethan's life. Coal used Alec's memories to lure Ethan out to the lake, and then attempted to drown him in the freezing water. The snowmen were under the command of the feather in the book, which had locked him within his own mind. And again at the park when he was dropped from the sky. What did it mean? He had only ever targeted Ethan's life directly, nobody else. Even when he had a chance to kill Sarah in the park he had knocked her aside and went for him. Was there perhaps another plan at play?

Coal stood in the exact same spot where he got his first glimpse of Whitechapel nearly a month ago. In the distance he could see city, and watched as the sun slowly vanished. It was time, he had waited long enough. He took to the skies and felt the familiar rush of cold air as he neared the his destination. Once he passed over the limits his wings arched out feathers began to fall. They slowly covered everything, a black snowfall for the final day of Whitechapel.

Ethan felt the unnatural rush of depression surge over him, he looked out his window and watched as the shadows of the feathers filled his room. It wasn't possible, he darted out of the house and stared straight up. It was unnatural, he watched Coal disappear in the distance. As the feathers touched down they vanished one by one. They were passing through buildings, he turned and found several lazily floating through his living room.

"Ethan?" asked Samantha as a feather suddenly melded into her. She fell to the ground in an unconscious slump. Ethan ran over to her, she was in a deep sleep. He ran through the house and found both his sister and father asleep as well.

Outside there must have been thousands of them falling, maybe even millions. Ethan pulled out his phone and called his friends. "This is it! We've got to stop him! He's heading for the old Whitechapel Church on the outskirts of town!"

He ran as fast as he could, he thought about Sarah and the previous encounter they had with the angelic boy, would the five of them be enough to stop him? Then he shook the thoughts out of his mind- it was time to end this. Another block down he caught Benny who looked as afraid as he did. He was wearing his backpack.

"Did you see all those feathers?" yelled Benny as he looked around. "This is insane! If he activates them then there's a good chance the city will literally destroy itself!"

"We won't let that happen," said Ethan as he ran. "Right now there's no way I'll be able to communicate with all of them in time. We either have to convince Coal to stop or think of a way to stop them! Why do you have that with you?"

"It's filled with potions I created; I spent the past few days making them. I don't plan on letting that freak ruin my holiday!"

Sarah and Rory appeared at their side a few minutes later.

"We have to destroy him!" said Sarah.

"We have until midnight!" said Ethan. "He told me that much, we have until midnight to stop him."

"Because of the bell?" asked Rory. "Dang, why didn't we see it before. We could stop it from ringing!"

"You really think stopping the bell is going to stop him?" asked Benny. "No, we're going to have to stop the source if we want to make sure there's a Christmas and Whitechapel tomorrow."

Erica landed a few feet away for them, she looked pissed.

"This is it guys," said Ethan as he looked at his friends. "This is our last chance to stop him." They nodded and Ethan continued. "Be careful, you remember the information I texted you? His scarf can transform into a scythe, his wings are sharp, he's fast, and he's strong. But if we use this to our advantage we can win."

"We know," said Sarah. "What's the plan?"

"Separate him from the scarf, if we can do that then we should be able to get the upper hand. Something else I noticed from our previous battle, he won't use the scythe if he's in flight, and if he does it's with more care. Christmas is stake, but more importantly our home is. It's time we showed him what happens when you see with Whitechapel!"

They all nodded and several minutes later they reached their destination. Together the group approached the old abandon Whitechapel Church. Coal was standing atop the building, his wings were spread out. The final bits of sunlight disappeared. He looked down at them, and jumped. As he did his wings vanished, the ground exploded under the force of Coal's landing. Slowly the boy rose, he looked at them, there were no emotions in his eyes.

"Are you ready?" He removed the scarf, Ethan felt his heart sink as it transformed into a large black scythe. "To experience Whitechapel's final hours?"

"Not in this lifetime," whispered Ethan as he unsheathed his knife. "We will stop you."

Coal charged forward and swung the scythe down in an arc. There was the flash of metal, Ethan moved to the side and felt the ground he was standing on explode from the impact.

"Benny look out!" screamed Erica. It was too late Coal took to the sky with Benny in tow leaving the weapon behind. Both Sarah and Erica charged after them, Rory grabbed the scythe.

"Ethan get back!" said Rory as pulled it free from the ground.

"What are-?"

Rory held it up high and threw it as hard as he could. It spun through the air towards Coal. Rory looked down at his hands; they were burned from handling the weapon.

Benny struggled against the boy's grip and muttered several incantations. Coal could sense the blade heading for them, he let the spellmaster fall and caught the blade in his hand. It turned back into a scarf, he looked around for Benny, where had he gone? He turned in enough time to see Erica crash into him. She grabbed onto the scarf and the two of them began to spin through the air.

"Erica be careful!" screamed Sarah as she landed next to her friends with Benny. They watched the scarf transform. A moment later Erica crashed somewhere in the woods.

"Here he comes!" screamed Rory as Coal charged straight at them. The wings disappeared as the boy slid across the ground. Coal swung the weapon with both hands. Ethan dove, around him graves and statues exploded into pieces. Coal changed direction and raised the blade. Benny snapped his fingers, the boy was blasted backwards. The scythe clattered to the ground.

"What was that?" asked Sarah as she stood up.

"I placed a fireball spell on him when he grabbed me," said Benny. "It only works once, and I figured now would be a good time to use it."

"Rory, Sarah try and get him into the church," said Ethan as he helped Benny up. "It'll prevent him from using his wings!"

The two vampires charged forward, Coal was just getting up when the duo kicked him. The force sent him backwards into the building, Benny charged after them. Ethan took one last look over his shoulder at the black scythe on the ground, he ran over to it and tried to pick it up. When he did he felt pain surge through his body, how had Rory managed to handle it?

Before he could think of an answer several explosion echoed from within the old church. Upon entering he watched Benny cast several fireballs, Coal dodged each one by jumping from rafter to rafter.

"Stop!" yelled Ethan. "You'll burn down everything!"

Fire spread across the top of the church. Coal opened his wings and sent a flurry of feathers down on them; all around objects came to life. Ethan plunged the knife into the nearest of the creatures; one by one they were freed from the feathers before turning to dust. Ethan looked up in enough time to see Coal thrown into the alter. Erica landed next to him.

"You have no idea how much I wanted to do that."

Several beams came crashing down, the fire was getting out of hand. Coal slowly rose from his place on the alter. Around him the fire burned bright, his face remained expressionless.

"Why?" asked Coal as looked down at them. "What are you that you care so much about another?"

"Does it matter?" asked Ethan.

Coal let out an inhuman laugh, and jumped forward. As he did his wings spread out, he passed over them and out of the church.

"I've got the fire!" cried Benny. "Go, stop him!"

They ran out in time to see Coal grab his scythe then fly away. The three vampires took off into the air after him. In the sky Coal dodged them with ease, try as they might he had been flying long before they had. It was Sarah who eventually caught him off guard and slammed him into the nearest chimney. Debris flew everywhere; Coal twisted around and smashed her into the roof.

"I didn't want to hurt anyone," said Coal as he raised his scythe. Rory came from the air and tackled him into a nearby tree. It collapsed; they both took to the air again. Coal landed on a roof and swung the blade, it tore through the ceiling missing the blonde boy. Rory dodged every strike; they jumped from building to building.

Sarah watched as Rory dodged another strike, a corner of the building suddenly crashed onto the ground. There were several more explosions from the rooftops.

"You're going to have to be faster than that," said Rory as Coal tried to slice though him again. "I'm the one and only vampire ninja."

"You're a fool," said Coal. "Who deludes himself into thinking he doesn't need to grow up!"

Rory tripped backwards, he fell from the building onto the ground of City Hall.

"Over here!" yelled Erica as she threw a brick at the angel boy. Coal dodged it then threw the scythe at her. Erica easily dodged it.

"NO!" yelled Sarah as the scythe tore through the Whitechapel Christmas tree. It fell to the ground in two pieces; she surveyed the damage the ornaments were mostly broken. A chill run through her as Coal landed on the ground next to her.

"Can you feel my pain yet?" He grabbed her shoulder and threw her into a building. "I want you to know, to know what it means to have nothing."

He picked up his scythe and turned to leave when Rory ran at him again. He swung it and missed tearing a car in half. Coal charged after him swinging the blade around like a madman. Erica helped Sarah out of the building.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, we need to help-"

There was an explosion as the blade tore through another car, the street was littered with pieces of buildings and toppled trees.

Ethan stabbed the final creature and let out a pent up breathe. The church was clear, he stepped outside and saw several pillars of smoke rising into the air. He watched as several new ones suddenly appeared. In the distance he could make out two figures, one was suddenly vanished as more smoke rose. He called Sarah.

"Get out of the city! You guys are going more harm than good!"

"We-" Another explosion and the line went dead. Ethan just watched, at this point it was the only thing he could do.

"What was that about?" asked Erica as she flew upwards.

"We need to get out of the city!" yelled Sarah. "Were did they go?"

"Towards the park!"

Sure enough several trees toppled as Rory drove Coal into the ground. Sarah motioned for Erica to take over the fight, she nodded and charged at the monster. Sarah landed next to Rory.

"We have to get out of the city. You're the fastest of us think you can lure him away? Head for the old church."

"Easy," said Rory as he flew after Erica and Coal. Sarah watched as Erica dodged an attack, Rory appeared behind Coal and slammed him sideways. The boy flew after him swinging the blade.

"Come on!" yelled Rory avoiding the strikes. "You need to be faster-"

Coal threw the blade and Rory dodged it, only to have the boy reappear behind him. There was a flash of metal and the blonde vampire was falling towards the ground a huge slash across his entire body.

"RORY!" screamed Erica as she dove after him. Coal appeared before her and slammed the back end of the blade against her head. She crashed into the ground, and remained motionless. He landed next to her and made sure she was unconscious. Sarah felt numb; she took to the air towards the church. She needed help. Coal watched as she tried to escape, then with all his strength he threw the scythe. She dodged it, and felt something grab her head. A moment later she was slammed into the ground. The world was blurry as Coal leaned over her.

"Please," he whispered. "Stay down."

Everything went dark.

* * *

"Benny look out!" screamed Ethan as the scythe crashed into the base of the church. He could see his friend lying on the ground knocked backwards by the impact. Coal appeared in front of Ethan and punched him in the gut as hard as he could. He walked past and headed for his scythe. Ethan fell to the ground in pain gasping for air.

"I want you to see to true despair," said Coal as he picked it up. "I want you to feel the same pain that I do, you must."

Coal jumped up and landed on the top of the church, he turned to Whitechapel. His wings spread out far behind him. "There is still twenty five minutes before the bell tolls, but I no longer want to wait."

They began to glow. "I will show you what it means to feel complete and total loss."

All around the city the feathers began to active. Christmas trees, presents, decorations-they all came to life. Citizens awoke to find themselves under attack by a legion of unholy creatures and beasts. Ethan watched as several of the statues in the graveyard suddenly came to life, and began to slowly surrounded him. In the distance he could hear the cries of fear, panic and pain. One by one the lights went out, until Whitechapel was nothing but darkness.

"No!" screamed Ethan. "YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS!"

Coal jumped down and held out his other hand: in it was the locket. The gift he had gotten for Sarah, the one that had helped him find his reason for fighting. It looked so tiny, so fragile.

"No," whispered Ethan as he struggled to get up, he was beginning to cry. "Please-please don't."

Coal dropped it on the ground then slammed his foot down. There was a crunch. Ethan watched as the boy turned his foot to ensure it wouldn't be salvageable. Ethan felt the world spin, he couldn't move his body.

Benny exited the church in a daze, he saw Ethan kneeling on the ground crying. Before he could respond he felt the scythe pressed against his neck, if he so much as moved it would be game over.

"You're city is lost," whispered Coal into Benny's ear. "Your friends have all been defeated. You have nothing left to fight for, now watch as the loss and pain consume your friend. Watch as he transforms into something like me."

The statues swarmed around Ethan, a strange darkness swirled around them. Benny felt his legs go weak, if it wasn't for the blade he would've fallen to the ground.

It was over, they had lost.


	9. Christmas Eve Part II

A/N: Finale time. A lot shorter than the previous chapters, but this one was written and planned out since the beginning. More at the end of the chapter! Enjoy!

* * *

A Very Whitechapel Christmas

Chapter 9: Christmas Eve Part 2

_Ethan doubled over in pain, through his blurred vision he could see nothing but empty space around him. He and his friends had given it their all and despite their best efforts they had failed. No matter what the task had been before they had come together and stopped each of Coal's attacks. So why had things gone so horribly now? It was clear they had lost. The feathers were activated, the entire city was destroyed, Christmas was ruined, and perhaps worse of all he had failed to protect his friends. As the pain increased a strange sense of distance began to wash over him, it was as if he was losing himself. He could feel a dark hatred closing in around him, and soon it began to engulf his body. A single tear streaked down his cheek. _

"_I'm sorry," whispered Ethan as he thought of Sarah. Sarah... __No, he couldn't give up, there were others waiting for him. He needed to remain strong for them, for her. He refused to give into the pain and hatred. He thought of his friends, and his family. This was Christmas- they were supposed to be together! A bright light began to glow in front of him, from within a voice spoke, and as it did the turbulent sea of emotions suddenly quelled._

"_It's not over yet. You have to trust me."_

* * *

TWENTY MINUTES UNTIL CHRISTMAS

Both Coal and Benny watched as a black smoke began to form around the statues and Ethan. It took the shape of two dark wings before suddenly fading away. Benny felt the blade go slack against his neck.

"Why?" Asked Coal as he suddenly left Benny's side and approached the courtyard. "Your friend should've been consumed by pain and grief, and upon his death transformed. Why didn't it work?"

He turned as if to receive an answer and was instead rewarded with a fireball slammed against his face.

"Ethan would never give into your hatred!" said Benny as he watched the boy topple over backwards onto the ground. He loosened his pack and swung it at him. There was the shattering of glass followed by an explosion of blue smoke. "That's for messing with my friends!"

Coal glided out of the smoke at Benny then stopped. A bright light was glowing in the midst of the statues. The creatures began to turn to dust, as they did Ethan looked up from the ground. In his hands was a glowing white feather.

"NO! It's not possible!" screamed Coal as he charged at him. The scythe rose into the air, and for a moment in the unnatural light it looked almost beautiful. Then it came down stopping inches above Ethan's head. The blade began to quiver and Coal pressed down harder. "How can it be possible?"

As if in response the scythe's blade shattered.

Ethan stood and made a grab for Coal's head. "It's time we ended this."

Memories of his friends and family surged forward, and Coal let out a cry of pain. "LET GO OF ME!"

"Not until you stop the feathers!"

"Never," hissed Coal. He kicked Ethan backwards, and looked down at his own hands. They were shaking. "What did you do to me?"

"I put the white feather into your mind," said Ethan with a smile. Coal ran towards him and was slammed sideways into a tree by Rory who was sporting a large cut across his torso.

"Oh my god," said Ethan as he looked at his friend. "What happened to you?"

"He tried to cut me, luckily it wasn't too deep," said Rory with his signature smile. "But he did ruin my favorite shirt."

Coal made a grab for the blonde vampire and was assaulted with a barrage of spells from Benny. Before the angelic boy could choose a target Ethan plunged his knife into his back, the wings suddenly emerged. Ethan closed his eyes preparing for a strike. It never came; Sarah had both wings with her hands.

"No one hurts my boyfriend," hissed Sarah as she bared her fangs. She pulled with all her might and used to momentum to thrown the Coal into the church. The back end collapsed and she turned to Ethan. "Are you ok?"

"I'm-" Before he could say anything he was pulled into a hug.

"I was so worried that he would try and kill you again."

"Guys we have other thing to worry about," said Benny as he ran over, his face paled when he saw the cut across Rory's torso. "Oh holy force."

"It's nothing, think of it as a really cool battle scar. Where's the scythe?"

"Ethan destroyed it, I'm sorry but that is just way to-" Benny fainted before he could finish.

"It's time for a counter attack," said Ethan as he tried to wake Benny up. "I put the white feather inside Coal's head; right now he's losing control of his body. Do as much damage as you can but don't kill him. I need to communicate with his mind if we want to stop the feathers in the city."

Coal emerged from the debris and took the air, the two vampires nodded and went after him. Ethan watched as they fought in the skies above. It appeared they were equally matched when another figure joined the battle. A moment later Coal went crashing into the church, the rest of it collapsed from the impact.

The figure dove into the wreckage creating another explosion of dust, when it cleared Ethan saw Erica standing over the boy, she was kicking him over and over again. The other two vampires landed as well.

"You come to my city and mess with head!" yelled Erica as she kicked him sideways. "I should rip off your arm!"

"Erica stop," said Sarah as she grabbed her shoulder. "It's over."

Coal looked up at them the dark circles under his eyes had become more evident, he looked haggard and damaged. It was clear that his body had reached it's limit. Ethan bent down in front of him and placed his hands on Coal's head, he spoke to his friends.

"Guys try and wake Benny up, this isn't over yet." The world faded from view.

* * *

_Alec stood in front of him with an aura of light surrounding him. Opposite him was the man who had tried to take over Ethan's mind the man who had died in the snowstorm. _

_"Why are you here?" asked Ethan as he approached him. "No, it can't be."_

_"**But it is,**" He took a step forward and when he did millions of purple orbs appeared around them. "**I am Coal.**"_

_"Don't worry Ethan," said Alec. "I'll shield you from their pain, the same way I did when you were in the church. They can't touch you as long as I'm here."_

_"**Why don't you tell Ethan about who you really are?**"_

_Ethan looked at him, and Alec looked down ashamed. "This is my body- I am the Angel of Memories. When I was alive I was a Seer, and when I died I had a vision of all the pain I would cause my friends and family. I felt it, and I could feel the agony of the others who had perished on Christmas as well. At that moment I knew if I had been given a second chance I could've helped them, and maybe in a way helped myself. As fate would have it I used the darkness of these memories to turn myself into a spirit, if you could call it that. I wasn't dead, and I wasn't alive- I was something in between. I went to my family and did everything I could to try and communicate with them, but only those with a unique gift could see me. I watched them go about their daily lives day by day wanting to be with them, and then I realized it was time for me to move on, I had a new purpose. __I began to travel all over the world taking in the memories of those who could not rest. You see there are two different types of memories: the first is the ones who simply need a voice or being to guide them through their misery, and the second are those who refuse to acknowledge anything but their own pain. __It wasn't an easy task, I quickly learned the ones who could not let go became a part of my wings. My wings were shaped by the inability to heal, and they serve as a constant reminder that not everyone wants to be at peace, it's why they're so dense and sharp."_

_Alec looked and Ethan and continued on._

_"I made it my goal to alleviate as much misery as possible, and as I amassed more and more of these memories I started to become visible to regular mortals. Soon I became a symbol of unease and sadness. After a while I began to yearned for home, I knew that if there was any place in the world where someone could look upon me and not be afraid it would be Whitechapel. The idea of a friend, or the possibility of just speaking with anyone that wasn't in pain was so great I lowered my own mental defenses, and that's when **they** attacked."_

_Coal laughed. "**It's true the moment Alec showed any insecurities we attacked, and when we made our move we locked him within one of these prisons. While I did not act alone I was by far the strongest, and because of that I was the one to take control. I didn't know the potential of his powers but I knew they were great. The moment Alec thought about Whitechapel, I knew it would be the starting ground for our plan. You see we want to world to experience pain like ours, why should we wallow and rot while the rest of you live your happy little lives****.**"_

"_When I realized what was happening I struggled against them for as long as possible. It was when they encountered you for the first time I realized I needed to act. I could sense that you were a Seer, and I knew you would be able to communicate with the feathers. So using my last bit of control I had them leave the feather I had been imprisoned in with you."_

"_**When we learned what had happened, we filled the feather with all sorts of negative emotions." **Coal was circling them.** "You see these feathers are always connected to the body. If you destroy them the memories return back to the wings. Using this connection we were able to manipulate his prison with anger and hatred, once that was done we tried to use him to kill you**."_

_"_"_What about when I encountered you after the snowman attack?" asked Ethan. "If you weren't in the body then there was no way for you to control it."_

"_**That wasn't entirely my choice**," said Coal. **"Alec used the connection to get rid of my feather, and the body was left in a sort of hibernation mode. If you recall nothing happened until after you defeated me within your mind. The other memories were far to weak to control it, and the connection was strong enough for me to get it back to the church where it remained until I returned**."_

_"There's more Ethan," said Alec as he began to walk around. "Coal wasn't just trying to kill you, he was trying to make another vessel."_

"_**True**," said Coal as he approached Ethan. "**It worked once when Alec died, why shouldn't it work again? After all you were both nearly identical, the only difference is perhaps age."**_

"_So when you entered my mind it was to take over my body?" asked Ethan trying to make sense of everything._

"_Exactly," said Alec. "But that was after you freed me, so I was able to help you fight him off. He realized that you wouldn't transform unless you lost everything. That's why his attacks became more aggressive. He needed to create a large amount of pain and loss centered around you and in that process he misused my powers. The feathers were never meant to be weaponized, in fact they were never meant to be anything other than a storage for memories. Hatred is a brittle thing, and when exposed to those with pure intentions and a kind heart it often breaks. That's why he couldn't tolerate your touch, and that's why I was able to break the scythe, it was held together by power that shouldn't exist."_

"**Y**_**ou refuse to see their power!**" yelled Coal. **"Instead of helping them, you should spread the pain! It's what you want, we can see it in you! You weren't created to manage it, you were made to spread it. Those first days you spent wandering after your family, that's what we feel. You are just like us!**"_

"_Alec," said Ethan as he reached out for the boy._

"_No," said Alec as he shook his head. "I exist to prevent people from feeling pain, and you've perverted that process! That's why you needed Ethan."_

"_What do you mean?" asked Ethan._

"_When Coal dropped the feathers all over Whitechapel it drained my body beyond it's limits. That's why he tried to change you, so he could absorb the pain of the city and start all over again. Except this time he'd be stronger than ever, after all he'd have a vessel tailor made to his mind."_

"_**How were you able to survive the darkness**?" asked Coal. "**You should have changed."**_

"_Isn't it obvious?" asked Alec with a smile. "He has a reason to fight. Yes you've destroyed the material things, but Ethan knows that there's more to Christmas than that."_

"_It's over," said Ethan. "You're out of time and energy. Give Alec back his body!"_

_He jumped forward and grabbed the man's head. Memories of the depression his friends had experienced over the past month flooded forward. Coal struggled against Ethan's grip._

"_You absorb the memories into the feathers, but you have never actually experienced the pain you've absorbed. Living in that memory had dulled your senses."_

_Coal said nothing, his eyes stared blankly at Ethan. "**Please…. Stop….**"_

"_One more," Ethan showed him the pain he felt when he saw Sarah hurt. The pain he felt when he saw the worry in her eyes. Coal slumped forward._

_Alec took a step forward and placed his own hand on Coal's forehead. He began to lose definition, and slowly he turned back into a small purple orb. Alec looked at Ethan._

"_Why didn't you tell me?"_

_Alec turned around. "I didn't know if you'd help me. I was afraid, you were the first actual person to communicate with me since my death. I am the embodiment of sadness, why would you want me back in my body. I didn't know if you'd actually trust a memory that tried to kill you."_

"_Is is true then?" asked Ethan._

"_Is what?"_

"_That you're body is decaying? That you you're going to die?"_

"_Ethan I'm already dead, but yes my body is failing. But that's ok, I'm going to fix Whitechapel. I was made to absorb the pain. The world will be better off without me, if I hadn't been collecting these memories things would have never have gotten this out of hand. Instead of being a catalyst I've become a cause, and I won't let that happen again. When I die the memories will die with me, and they won't be able to hurt anyone else."_

_Ethan reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "What about all the good you can bring."_

_There were memories of him and Sarah on a date. Wrapping gifts with Jane. The annual Morgan Christmas Party. Eating dinner with his family. Getting a Christmas tree. And finally finding the perfect gift for Sarah._

_Alec smiled."I have to stop what they've started. I know the feathers can create, it's time I change things for the better."_

* * *

FIVE MINUTES UNTIL CHRISTMAS

When Ethan came to his friends were all staring at Alec, he was no longer a creature they had feared, but one they pitied. He stood up and Ethan realized the boy had been projecting what had transpired for all to see. There was a sense of peace on his face as he looked up.

"Can you really do it?" asked Ethan. "Can you stop the feathers?"

Alec nodded before his wings spread out behind him. "Whitechapel was once my home, I won't let it be destroyed."

He took off into the air, the rush of wind made Ethan wince, but he watched as the boy took off in the direction of Whitechapel.

"Do you think he can do it?" asked Sarah as she took Ethan's hand.

"He can," said Ethan thinking of everything they'd been through. "He has to."

Alec soared above, "I can change who I am. I can stop them."

His wings began to glow and all around the city memories came surging forth. So many of anger and hatred, they battered against his mind and he did his best to focus. He felt his body weakening, it was too much. Then he thought of what Ethan had said.

"_What about all the good you can bring?"_

It was time to give them all new purpose. The possessed objects began to glow. Christmas trees suddenly reformed, presents stopped and re-wrapped themselves, one by one things began to mend. Alec flew forward letting new feathers fall. Upon landing they repaired any of the damages done throughout the night. One landed on the empty pedestal and recreated the Whitechapel Reindeer. Another landed in front of it repairing the city hall Christmas tree, others fixed cars and buildings. Throughout the park trees began to reappeared, and as they did the blue lights began to turn on one by one until it's festive feel returned. Several feathers faded through the roof of mall, and within the Christmas tree and decorations reappeared.

He soared over the church and watched as it too came back into being. He landed at the base and picked the small object on the ground. Ethan held Sarah close to him and felt tears well up in his eyes as all of Whitechapel's Christmas lights began to come back on.

"He did it," whispered Ethan hardly daring to believe it. "It's over."

Alec walked towards them, his eyes held a distant look.

"I-I-" He reached out to touch Ethan when his wings began to fade away.

"Is it happening?" asked Benny as the group approached him. "Are you-?"

"I've used up all my energy," said Alec as he looked at the object in his hands. "My time is almost up."

Ethan said nothing and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. Alec smiled and in return placed a small object into Ethan's hand. He spread his wings one final time before taking to the skies.

"Goodbye." He soared into the air, feathers raining down all around them. Once he could go no longer he allowed the memories to consume his fading body. Without a host they too would fade into nothingness.

"What did you show him?" asked Sarah.

"I showed him all the friends he has now, that he's not alone anymore."

The group watched as the final few feathers fell, Alec was gone. In the distance a bell began to toll. Ethan looked down at the object in his hands, it was the locket he had gotten Sarah. It looked as good as new.

"So boyfriend?" asked Ethan as he slid his arm around her waist. Sarah turned red. A moment later the couple was looking into one another's eyes. "Since it's Christmas I guess I can give you this."

Ethan handed her the golden locket. She opened it, then looked at him. "Oh Ethan it's beautiful!" She hugged him hard and Ethan let out a yelp of pain. "Sorry," mumbled Sarah looking even redder.

"It's ok," said Ethan as he looked up. Then he noticed it. A single feather had landed on the edge of the Church and turned into mistletoe. Sarah looked up and smiled. They both leaned forward.

Benny, Rory and Erica all shared smiles as they watched their friends kiss for the first time.

"About time," mumbled Erica and Benny at the same time. They shared a strange look before the blonde suddenly looked away. Benny kicked a small rock on the ground wondering what would come next. As long as it didn't involve looking at Rory's wound he didn't care what happened.

Rory sighed, the entire month had gone by and he still didn't have the evidence to prove Santa existed. Sure they had saved the town, stopped the bad guy, and watched their friend find true love. But still... He looked up and caught sight of something streaking across the sky. It took him a moment to realize it was a sleigh being pulled by reindeer.

"SANTA!" Screamed Rory. Benny and Erica looked up as well. Together they watched the the sleigh vanish. "SANTA! WAIT FOR ME!" Rory took off into the air.

"Oh my gosh, he's real," said Erica in disbelief. Then she began to yell. "RORY DON'T YOU DARE BITE SANTA CLAUSE!" She took off into the air after him.

Benny's mouth hung open as the two vampires disappeared into the night.

"Merry Christmas Sarah," said Ethan as he pressed his forehead against hers.

"Merry Christmas Ethan," said Sarah as she pulled him into another kiss.

Benny looked at them, and up to where his other friends had flown away. He smiled.

Yup, he thought to himself. It was a very Whitechapel Christmas.

The End.

* * *

And there you have it, the conclusion to A Very Whitechapel Christmas. I hope you enjoyed, and a special thanks to all of those who left reviews. Feedback means a lot to me. As of now this story is complete, I might come back in the future and tidy up the chapters add some of the content that didn't make it in, but I doubt it. I have another story planned out, and it's not as rushed as this one. It involves a clone, let's leave it at that, it'll be out next month and I hope you guys will take a peek at it. In the mean time have a great holiday, and keep safe. And don't forget to believe! -Takarifan101


End file.
